BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- After a night punctuated by air raid sirens and the thunder of missile and anti-aircraft attacks that left at least two dead and 30 wounded, Iraqis faced the possibility of new attacks Thursday.

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook confirmed that the attacks would continue and that British warplanes would be heavily involved.

"This is not the end today," he told BBC Radio, adding that the raids would set back Iraq's chemical and biological weapons program by several years. He said the first objective was "to make sure we do everything possible" to hit Iraq's air defense systems. The Pentagon continued its buildup in the region, dispatching more than 70 additional warplanes, including F-117 fighters, troops and Patriot missiles to counter any Iraqi retaliation. The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is scheduled to arrive on Friday. The buildup was undeterred by protests from Russia, China, and other nations.

The attack began Wednesday, a day after the U.N.'s chief weapons inspector, Richard Butler, issued a report criticizing Baghdad for not cooperating fully with inspectors. The inspectors have been attempting to determine whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.

Despite the night's thudding missiles and explosions, government employees returned to their offices Thursday morning, and young children headed to school. Traffic jams clogged downtown streets as usual.

During the long night, at least one missile fell near President Saddam Hussein's biggest palace in Baghdad, but the president's location remained unknown. He spoke on Iraqi radio from a secret location.

Witnesses said a missile also landed in al-Adil, about two kilometers (one mile) from Abu Ghraib, where a sprawling military camp and radio relay stations are located.

Missile reportedly struck Iran

Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it had received reports that a missile had landed in southern Iran, apparently linked to the U.S. and British military attack on Iraq.

A spokesman said the ministry had summoned the ambassador of Switzerland, which represents U.S. interests in Iran, and the British charge d'affaires to demand an explanation, according to Reuters. The spokesman had no details.

Iranian officials reported that a missile hit Khoramshahr, an Iranian city near the Iraqi border, causing damage and panic, but no injuries or deaths.

Officials believe the missile probably hit the town by mistake because of its location near the Iraqi city of Basra.

After one missile attack In Iraq, a CNN camera crew was invited to a Baghdad hospital, where several people appeared to be severely burned.

Ramadan a factor in timing of attack

Pentagon sources said about 200 cruise missiles were fired from ships and manned fighter bombers in the first wave of what will be an "open-ended" attack, designed to hinder Iraq's ability to produce nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

U.S. President Bill Clinton said he ordered the strikes on military and security targets to retaliate for Iraq's defiance of the U.N. Special Commission inspections. UNSCOM is responsible for eliminating the country's weapons of mass destruction.

In Washington, where impeachment resolutions against the president had been scheduled Thursday, the House of Representatives instead will take up a bipartisan resolution praising U.S. troops involved in the mission.

Although some members of Congress had questioned the timing of the airstrikes, and a possible connection to the scheduled impeachment issue, U.S. officials said they were the result of Iraq's failure to cooperate. One factor in the timing of the airstrikes was that the U.S. did not wish to offend Muslims by beginning an attack during the holy period of Ramadan, officials said.

"This operation has been carefully planned over a period of time. ... It had to be now," said Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia, the incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Warner said he understood the skepticism of colleagues, but did not share it.

Incoming House Speaker Robert Livingston, R-Louisiana, said that "We now have to support our troops, now that they're deployed." He added that "On the matter of timing, we would leave that to the best judgment of the American people."

Diplomacy failed

NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana said on Thursday that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was solely responsible for drawing U.S. and British airstrikes on Iraq and urged him to immediately comply with U.N. demands.

"Despite all the efforts by the United Nations over several months, diplomacy has not been successful in persuading Iraq to comply with the demands of the international community," Solana said in a statement.

"Iraq should not misunderstand our determination," said Secretary of Defense William Cohen, who briefed reporters at the Pentagon along with Gen. Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Cohen said the objective of the military attack was to erode Iraq's military capability and ability to make chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. He would not give a timetable for how long the attack would last.

While only American and British forces were involved, Cohen maintained that other countries, which he didn't identify, were supportive of the attack. However, he said the scope of the force was limited so that it could strike quickly and maintain the element of surprise.

"(These countries) were prepared to volunteer assets, and they did in fact call and say they would be supportive of anything that we were to undertake." Cohen said. "We had tried to maximize our ability to strike quickly without any further warning."

The military operation began at 5 p.m. EST Wednesday (2200 GMT/1 a.m. Thursday in Baghdad).

Shelton said the attack included U.S. Navy aircraft launched from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and land-based aircraft from both the U.S. Air Force and the Royal Air Force, operating from unspecified bases in the region. Cruise missiles were launched both by U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers and from U.S. Navy ships at sea.

Because the operation was not complete, neither Cohen nor Shelton would discuss specifics of the attack, including the number of aircraft sorties, a list of targets or damage assessments. Cohen did say, about 90 minutes into the attack, that he was not aware of any U.S. casualties to that point.

Cohen, a former Republican senator from Maine, said that the pending vote on President Clinton's impeachment in the U.S. House played no role in the decision to bomb Iraq.

"I have come to the conclusion, looking at the facts, that this was in America's national security interests," Cohen said. "I am prepared to place 30 years of public service on the line to say the only factor that was important in this decision is what was in the American people's best interest. There were no other factors."

Shelton said logistical considerations, including the pending arrival of the second aircraft carrier, made Wednesday the right time to launch the attack and that the military plan had been approved back in November.

"I wholeheartedly supported the president's decision," Shelton said.

U.N. workers evacuated

The entire 120-member UNSCOM staff was evacuated from Iraq before dawn on Wednesday and flown to Bahrain.

"All international staff ... have been pulled out from Baghdad," U.N. spokeswoman Caroline Cross said in Bahrain. "There is nobody left behind."

Some 400 U.N. employees monitoring humanitarian programs in Iraq have also been asked to evacuate, U.N. sources said Wednesday.

Two buses and five cars carrying about 40 U.N. humanitarian workers left Baghdad for Jordan on Wednesday, witnesses said.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov accused Butler of overstepping his authority by ordering the evacuation of inspectors.

Russia has consistently opposed military action against Iraq.