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The Middle East appeared to be on the brink of huge escalation on Tuesday night as Israel pledged “powerful strikes” across the Middle East in revenge for an Iranian missile barrage aimed at Tel Aviv.
Iran launched more than 100 missiles after Israeli strikes killed much of the leadership of its proxy group in Lebanon, Hezbollah. What started as an Israeli detonation of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies mostly owned by the group turned into days of bombing across Lebanon's south and its capital, Beirut. The attacks have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced a million, according to Lebanon's government.
After the Tuesday salvo, which Tehran said was directly ordered by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, it threatened that if Israel responded to the attack, Iran would retaliate again. That was followed by Iran’s proxies in Iraq saying they would assault US bases in the country.
Israel has launched what could be a significant ground operation into southern Lebanon against Hezbollah, with sources confirming to The National that tanks had advanced over the border.
It now appears that after Iran’s barrage, in which some rockets breached Israel’s defences, Israel’s armed forces are at high readiness to retaliate.
The same Israeli defence source who accurately predicted Iran would attack on Tuesday night also told reporters that the Israeli air force was going to “continue conducting powerful strikes all over the Middle East”.
Israel has proven its ability to mount long-range, precision strikes after two successful attacks on Yemen and what was probably one on Iran following the previous missile attack on April 13.
The question now is what it might aim for in Iran, with the possibility that it may well strike the country’s nuclear centres.
It remains unclear what Iran could do in further response but on Tuesday night its UN mission in New York defended the country's ballistic missile attack on Israel as “legal, rational and legitimate”, and warned against any further response.
“Iran’s legal, rational and legitimate response to the terrorist acts of the Zionist regime – which involved targeting Iranian nationals and interests, and infringing upon the national sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran – has been duly carried out,” the mission wrote in a post on X.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the strikes were in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other militant leaders.
Hamas said that it “congratulates the heroic missile launches carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran, on large areas of our occupied territories”.
There were also reported incidents in Israeli cities of Palestinians celebrating the attacks by letting off fireworks.
Furthermore Iran-backed Shiite militias have vowed to attack US interests if Iran is attacked again..
The Iraqi Resistance Co-ordination Committee, a co-ordinating body comprised of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias, has warned that if US or Israel attack Iran, they will go after US interests in Iraq and the region.
“If the Americans intervene in any hostile action against the Islamic Republic, or the Zionist enemy uses Iraqi airspace to attack its lands, all US bases and interests in Iraq and the region will be a target for us,” it said.
The region remains at an extremely heightened sense of turmoil with little clarity over how the situation will develop in the coming hours and days.
Meydan Racecourse racecard:
6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes Listed (PA) | Dh175,000 | 1,900m
7.05pm: Maiden for 2-year-old fillies (TB) | Dh165,000 | 1,400m
7.40pm: The Dubai Creek Mile Listed (TB) | Dh265,000 | 1,600m
8.15pm: Maiden for 2-year-old colts (TB) | Dh165,000 | 1,600m
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed (TB) | Dh265,000 | 2,000m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh190,000 | 1,200m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh190,000 | 1,600m.
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The biog
Favourite film: Motorcycle Dairies, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, Kagemusha
Favourite book: One Hundred Years of Solitude
Holiday destination: Sri Lanka
First car: VW Golf
Proudest achievement: Building Robotics Labs at Khalifa University and King’s College London, Daughters
Driverless cars or drones: Driverless Cars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Fixtures (all times UAE)
Saturday
Brescia v Atalanta (6pm)
Genoa v Torino (9pm)
Fiorentina v Lecce (11.45pm)
Sunday
Juventus v Sassuolo (3.30pm)
Inter Milan v SPAL (6pm)
Lazio v Udinese (6pm)
Parma v AC Milan (6pm)
Napoli v Bologna (9pm)
Verona v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Monday
Cagliari v Sampdoria (11.45pm)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final second leg:
Juventus 1 Ajax 2
Ajax advance 3-2 on aggregate
Match info
Uefa Nations League A Group 4
England 2 (Lingard 78', Kane 85')
Croatia 1 (Kramaric 57')
Man of the match: Harry Kane (England)
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Uefa Nations League
League A:
Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands
League B:
Austria, Wales, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Turkey
League C:
Hungary, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Albania, Norway, Montenegro, Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania
League D:
Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Malta, Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino, Gibraltar
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
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Price: On request
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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