The US helped Israel shoot down Iranian missiles

According to the Pentagon, the US fired about a dozen interceptors in response to Iranian ballistic missile fire fired at Israel on Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden said the US had “actively” supported Israel’s defense at his direction. He said he spent the morning in the Situation Room – the White House center for addressing serious national security issues.

According to the Israeli military, about 180 rockets were fired at Israel, most of which were intercepted.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has defended the attack, calling it a “decisive” response “to defend Iranian interests and citizens.”

In a Pentagon news conference on Tuesday, Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said two U.S. Navy destroyers fired the interceptors at the missiles, all of which the U.S. believed were fired from Iran.

He did not confirm whether they had hit any of the Iranian missiles used in the attack – adding that this information had yet to be determined.

According to the Israeli military, Iran fired around 180 rockets at Israel. That would be slightly larger than a barrage in April, when Tehran fired about 110 ballistic missiles and 30 cruise missiles at Israel.

Maj. Gen. Ryder added that the Pentagon was not aware of any warning of the attack.

President Biden said the US “fully supported” Israel after Wednesday’s attack.

“Today, at my direction, the U.S. military actively supported the defense of Israel, and we are still assessing the impact,” he said.

“But from what we know now, the attack appears to have been repelled and ineffective. And that is a testament to the military capability of Israel and the U.S. military.”

Asked by reporters what the response would be toward Iran, Biden said: “That is being actively discussed. That remains to be seen.”

He said he would speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that his message would “depend on what we ultimately think is necessary.”

The region is now in another sharp cycle of escalation, the very scenario Biden has been trying to avert for months – trying to contain the Gaza war that is engulfing the rest of the region while maintaining Israel’s near-continuous arms supply.

Earlier, White House national security spokesman Jake Sullivan called Iran’s attack a “significant escalation.”

He told reporters: “We have made it clear that this attack will have serious consequences and we will work with Israel to make this happen.”

Mr. Sullivan gave no details about the possible consequences, but did not call for restraint from Israel, as the United States did after Iran’s attack in April.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington had sought to use both deterrence and diplomacy to de-escalate the region.

Of course, when asked by the BBC whether they still took that approach when working with the Israelis on the response to Iran, he said that they had always used both deterrence and diplomacy.

The Iranian armed forces warned against direct military intervention in support of Israel.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement that the attacks were in response to Israel’s killing of a top IRGC commander and leaders of Iranian-backed militias in the region.

It mentioned the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and IRGC commander Abbas Nilforoshan in Lebanon last weekend.

It also referred to the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.

Although Israel has not admitted its involvement in Haniyeh’s death, Israel is widely believed to be responsible.