The White House stated that Iran’s missile attack on Israel was a “significant escalation” and the Biden administration is discussing the next steps in response to Iran.
According to the Pentagon’s estimation, Iran launched approximately 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday (October 1st), but most of them were successfully intercepted by Israel. The ground losses from this attack were minimal, and there have been no reports of any Israeli casualties so far.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at a White House press briefing that Iran’s missile attack on Israel was a “significant escalation” and the Biden administration is determining how to respond.
“It’s clear that this is a major escalation by Iran, it’s a significant event. Equally important, from what we know so far, the United States and Israel together have achieved a situation where there have been no Israeli deaths in the face of the attack,” Sullivan told the media.
Iran launched a large-scale ballistic missile attack on Israel, citing it as retaliation for Israel’s incursion into Lebanon to target Iran’s ally, the Hezbollah militia, as well as the previous killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah by Israel.
Around 7:30 PM local time in Israel, missiles were fired towards Israel from various locations in Iran. The military stated that alarms sounded across Israel.
Prior to this, the Israeli military received information from the U.S. about Iran’s preparations for a missile attack. Subsequently, the Israeli military advised residents in certain areas to seek shelter. About an hour later, the Israeli military confirmed the end of the Iranian missile launches and allowed citizens to safely leave the shelters.
It was reported that two U.S. missile destroyers stationed in the Middle East also participated in the operation to intercept the incoming missiles, firing around a dozen interception missiles.
U.S. defense officials mentioned that the Pentagon is uncertain whether their interception missiles successfully hit the incoming missiles.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in a brief speech at the State Department on Tuesday that the U.S. and other countries have “effectively thwarted” Iran’s attack on Israel.
“We once again demonstrated our commitment to Israel’s defense,” he said. Iran had previously launched an attack on Israel in April, where nearly every missile was intercepted.
Blinken did not specify the role of the U.S. or other countries in defending against Iran’s attack on Tuesday.
“We will maintain close contact with Israel and other partners in the region in the coming hours and days,” he said.
Sullivan mentioned at the press conference that Iran’s missile attack on Israel on Tuesday was “unsuccessful, had no effect”.
“We are now examining what appropriate steps to take next, first to ensure the interests of the United States, and then to maximize stability as we move forward,” he added.
Sullivan stated that it is too early to publicly disclose the U.S. assessment of the matter.
He added that President Biden is monitoring the progress of the situation “every moment.”