Iran has launched drone attacks at Israel, U.S. officials say

Iran
on
Saturday
launched
attacks
against

Israel,
according
to
U.S.
officials,
escalating
long-standing
tensions
between
the
two
nations
that
have
the
potential
to
trigger
a
regional
war.

“Iran
has
begun
an
airborne
attack
against
Israel,”
National
Security
Council
spokesperson
Adrienne
Watson
said
in
a
Saturday
statement.
“The
United
States
will
stand
with
the
people
of
Israel
and
support
their
defense
against
these
threats
from
Iran.”

Israel
Defense
Forces
spokesperson
Daniel
Hagari
said
Saturday
that
Israel
would
work
“in
close
coordination”
with
the
U.S.
and
regional
partners
to
intercept
the
launches.

“We
are
monitoring
the
threat
in
the
airspace.
It
is
a
threat
that
takes
several
hours
to
reach
the
territory
of
the
State
of
Israel,”
he
added.

Israeli
Prime
Minister
Benjamin
Netanyahu
convened
his
war
cabinet
in
Tel
Aviv,
following
the
announcement
of
the
missile
and
drone
launches,
according
to
the

Prime
Minister’s
Office.

International
leaders
including
European
Council
President

Charles
Michel,
U.K.
Prime
Minister

Rishi
Sunak
and

France’s
foreign
ministry
publicly
condemned
Iran’s
attack
on
Saturday.

The
Biden
administration
is
expecting
Iran
to
target
Israeli
government
sites,
not
civilian
or
religious
sites
and
not
U.S.
assets
in
the
area,
U.S.
officials
told
NBC
News.

The
administration
is
anticipating
the
attack
to
involve
100
drones,
dozens
of
cruise
missiles
and
dozens
of
ballistic
missiles,
one
of
the
officials
added.

Ahead
of
the
attacks
on
Saturday,

President
Joe
Biden
was
en
route
back
to
the
White
House,
earlier
than
initially
scheduled,
to
meet
with
his
national
security
team,
including
Defense
Secretary
Lloyd
Austin
and
Secretary
of
State
Antony
Blinken,
amid
the
growing
prospect
of
an
Iranian
strike.

Earlier
on
Saturday,

Iran’s
Revolutionary
Guard
seized
a
Portuguese-flagged
cargo
ship
with
links
to
Israel
in
the
Strait
of
Hormuz,
a
key
shipping
route.
The
White
House

condemned
the
move
shortly
after.

In
anticipation
of
the
attacks,

airspaces
in
Israel
and
throughout
the
region
were
being
temporarily
shut
down.

Israel
also
announced
that
beginning
on
Sunday,
it
would
close
schools
and
limit
gatherings
to
1,000
people
in
certain
areas.

Strains
between
Iran
and
Israel
have
been
heating
up
since
the
start
of
the
war
in
Gaza
in
October,
and
especially
over
the
past
several
weeks
after
Iran
accused
Israel
of
perpetrating
an
attack
on
its
consulate
in
Damascus
on
April
1.

The
Islamic
Revolutionary
Guard
Corps
said
in
a
Saturday
statement
that
the
missile
and
drone
launches
were
“in
response
to
the
crimes
by
the
Zionist
Regime.”

Iranian
leaders,
including Ayatollah
Ali
Khamenei,
had
previously
pledged
to
retaliate
against
Israel
for
the
Damascus
strike
and
Israel,
in
turn,
threatened
a

counterattack
of
its
own.
Israel
has
neither
confirmed
nor
denied
its
involvement
in
the
Damascus
attack.

“If
Iran
attacks
from
its
territory,
Israel
will
react
and
attack
in
Iran,”
Israeli
Foreign
Affairs
Minister
Israel
Katz
wrote
in
a
Wednesday

post
on
X,
tagging
the
Ayatollah’s
X
account.

Given
Iran’s
various
warnings,
the
White
House
had
been
expecting
an
Iranian
strike
and
had
been
communicating
with
Israel
to
ensure
they
would
be
prepared
to
defend
themselves.

In
a
statement
after
the
launches,
Iran’s
mission
to
the
United
Nations
warned
the
U.S.
not
to
get
involved.

“It
is
a
conflict
between
Iran
and
the
rogue
Israeli
regime,
from
which
the
U.S.
MUST
STAY
AWAY!”
the
mission

posted
to
X.