Horror moment Iranian missiles spotted raining down from passenger plane window

Tehran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel overnight, less than 24 hours after Israel invaded Lebanon - as the crisis in the Middle East escalates.

By Oli Smith, News Reporter

Iran missiles

Footage from a civillian plane passenger captured the moment dozens of missiles were launched (Image: X/IntercityFC)

The unprecedented salvo of Iranian missiles fired at Israel last night was dramatically caught on camera from a passenger plane window.

The shocking footage from a civilian plane passenger captured the moment dozens of missiles were launched from a missile site in Shiraz, southern Iran.

In the video, missiles can be seen lighting up the sky as they head towards Israel. It is thought that Iran launched more than 180 missiles in total last night. Some of the missiles fired by Iran were hypersonic Fattah missiles, with a maximum speed estimated at 10,000mph.

There were no alerts from Iran ahead of its missile launch and Tehran did not close its own airspace - allowing passenger planes to continue to fly over Iran while missiles were fired, despite the obvious safety risks.

The plane is understood to have turned back immediately after the surprise missile launch.

Iran said it launched the missiles toward three Israeli military bases as retaliation for a series of Israeli strikes in Lebanon against its proxy Hezbollah, including the killing of the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Nasrallah was killed by an Israeli strike on Beirut on Friday, dealing a heavy blow to the militant group. According to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, 90 percent of its missiles successfully hit their targets in Israel.

However, Israel insists most missiles were intercepted by its air defence as well as help from the UK and the US.

The order to launch missiles at Israel was made by the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. The extent of the damage from the Iranian barrage remains unclear today.

Late on Tuesday, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Iran’s action was “concluded unless the Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation”.

However, Israel has already vowed to retaliate.

TOPSHOT-ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-IRAN-LEBANON-CONFLICT

Israel has vowed to retaliate after Iran's barrage of ballistic missiles (Image: Getty)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of his security cabinet late on Tuesday: “Iran made a big mistake tonight –and it will pay for it.

"The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies. They will understand.”

Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz echoed this and threatened Israeli retaliation for Iran’s “brutal” missile attack yesterday.

He said: "The Ayatollah regime has crossed the red line – and the state of Israel will not remain silent in the face of Iran’s brutal attack on our citizens. The entire free world must stand with Israel to stop the Iranian axis of evil – before it’s too late."

TOPSHOT-ISRAEL-LEBANON-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT

The order to launch missiles at Israel was made by the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei (Image: Getty)

Israeli officials have reportedly put targets on Iran's nuclear or oil facilities following the missile attack, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited Arab officials.

Meanwhile, Israel has launched an invasion into Lebanon.

Earlier this morning, Hezbollah said that it had repelled Israeli soldiers in the first set of clashes between the two sides.

Video on social media showed IDF helicopters evacuating soldiers from the Lebanon border following the fighting.

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?