04/15/2024

How the U.S. Rallied to Defend Israel from Iran’s Attack

The air attack injured one person

As President Joe Biden and his national security team met in the White House Situation Room Saturday evening, watching in real time as hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones headed towards Israel, they received a message from Tehran. Through the Swiss, who serve as an intermediary since the U.S. and Iran have no diplomatic relations, the Iranians sent word "basically suggesting that they were finished after this," a senior administration official said on Sunday.

It was, to say the least, an incongruous moment. Over the course of five hours on Saturday, Iran launched more than 300 munitions, including ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and UAVs from locations in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, according to the Pentagon. At one "incredibly intense" moment, the President and his national security advisers were monitoring at least 100 Iranian ballistic missiles that were simultaneously in the air a short time from reaching Israel, according to U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.

The Iranian message arrived as U.S. forces and regional partners were still assisting Israel in shooting down dozens of missiles and drones, which Iran had launched in retaliation for Israel’s April 1 strike of its consular building in Syria which killed senior Iranian officials. At the time, it was still unclear whether the air attack would cause any significant damage, potentially igniting a wider regional war that the U.S. has been working to head off for months.

Please select this link to read the complete article from TIME.