Terrifying footage taken from the cockpit of a plane flying over the Middle East shows the moment a barrage of Iranian missiles were launched into the night sky on Tuesday evening, as Tehran fired projectiles towards Israel.
According to the New York Post, the video – which shows missiles launching from around Shiraz, Iran – was captured by the pilot of a flight bound for Dubai.
While none of the missiles came into contact with the aircraft, it is clear just how close they were from the plane, suggesting that Iran did not ensure that the airways had been cleared before launching its attack on Israel.
As a result, airlines rushed to divert their flights over the Middle East as Iranian missiles soared towards Israel at around 7:30pm local time.
Flight trackers showed a clearing in the airspace between Iran and Israel as planes flew around both countries to avoid the crossfire.
Terrifying footage taken from the cockpit of a plane flying over the Middle East shows the moment a barrage of Iranian missiles soared across the night sky yesterday evening
People take shelter during an air raid siren in Israel on Tuesday
Airports in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria also began suspending flights.
Meanwhile, Iranian missiles were seen lighting up the sky and smashing into buildings as air sirens blared across Israel just hours after the White House had warned an attack was ‘imminent’.
Stark footage showed Israel’s Iron Dome defense system shooting down some of the incoming projectiles and sending burning fragments to the ground as civilians in Tel Aviv were urged to take cover in bomb shelters.
But as Iran unleashed a salvo of missiles, ordered by its supreme leader Ali Khamenei, falling projectiles burned like comets against the sky after the rockets were intercepted by Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ defensive system.
The expected assault, hailed as ‘heroic’ by Iran-backed Hamas, marks a major escalation in the Middle East, and was ‘twice the scope’ of Tehran’s bombardment in April, which saw more than 170 explosive drones and 120 ballistic missiles launched.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden confirmed that the US helped repel the massive missile attack from Iran last night, after intercepting most of the 200 projectiles launched, and declaring that America is ‘fully, fully supportive of Israel’.
He praised the efforts to foil the missiles, saying that ‘this is testament to Israel’s military capability and the US military’, as he noted that he had spent the morning in the White House’s Situation Room monitoring the conflict.
A man holds children as people take cover during an air raid siren
People take cover behind a vehicle parked along the side of a highway in Tel Aviv
Iranian launched projectiles being intercepted by Israel above Jerusalem
Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the Iranian missile attack ‘totally unacceptable, and the entire world should condemn it.’
Meanwhile, Iran warned against US military intervention in support of Israel, after Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a social media post on Wednesday morning that ‘Iran’s long hands can reach any point it wants’.
He also added that the ‘Zionist regime and its supporters should know that the Islamic Republic of Iran acts decisively on what it says’.
The attack sparked terror on the streets of Tel Aviv and was in response to Israel’s recent assassination of the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah.
