THE United States intercepted a barrage of drones Iran fired at Israel overnight Saturday, according to American President Joe Biden.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had, on Saturday, April 13, launched dozens of drones and missiles at Israel in an attack that may trigger a major escalation between the countries.
Biden, however, in a statement posted on his X handle in the early hour of Sunday, April, said the United States helped Israel take down “nearly all” of the attacking drones and missiles.
Biden, who returned to Washington earlier on Saturday to meet with advisers about the attack, condemned Iranian attacks on military facilities in Israel and pledged a coordinated G7 diplomatic response, adding that the U.S. forces and facilities had not been hit.
“Earlier today, Iran – and its proxies operating out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq – launched an unprecedented air attack against military facilities in Israel. I condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms.
“At my direction, to support the defence of Israel, the U.S. military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defence destroyers to the region over the course of the past week. Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles.”
Biden reaffirmed America’s unwavering support for Israel’s security, saying that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks.
“Tomorrow, I will convene my fellow G7 leaders to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack. My team will engage with their counterparts across the region. And we will stay in close touch with Israel’s leaders. And while we have not seen attacks on our forces or facilities today, we will remain vigilant to all threats and will not hesitate to take all necessary action to protect our people,” the statement added.
Confirming the interception of the massive drones, Israel’s military said on Sunday that “99 per cent” of drones and missiles fired by Iran were intercepted by Israel and its partners, with only “a small number” of ballistic missiles reaching Israel.
According to reports, the partner countries were believed to be Jordan, the United Kingdom and France.
Israel’s military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, stated that the ballistic missiles that successfully reached Israel landed at the Netavim Air Base in southern Israel, resulting in only minor structural damage.
He added that the base remained operational despite the attack, with aircraft continuing to utilise its facilities.
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Hagari labelled the deployment of ballistic missiles as an “escalation factor.”
When asked about potential offensive measures from Israel, he added that Israel had formulated plans and was weighing its options.
“We have plans; the situation is still ongoing. We are assessing the situation, we are showing the cabinet the plans, and we are ready to do what is necessary for the defence of Israel.
“I want you to show me another country facing over 110 ballistic missiles and the drones. I think Iran meant to get results and didn’t get results. The ballistic missiles are an escalatory factor. And when they used these numbers, they wanted more significant results than what happened,” he said.
The military had on Saturday disclosed that Iran launched over 170 drones, in addition to more than 30 cruise missiles and over 120 ballistic missiles, targeting Israel.
The attack was coming barely two weeks after a suspected Israel strike resulted in the death of two Iranian generals and seven members of the IRGC were killed in Syria.
Justifying the attack, the Iran Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it was responding to an “attack on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus” on 1 April.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M