Israeli and American forces jointly defended the Jewish state against more than 200 launched Iranian missiles in an attack that marked a “significant escalation’ of regional violence for which there would be consequences, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters in Washington.
“We have made clear that there will be consequences, severe consequences, for this attack, and we will work with Israel to make that the case,” said Sullivan, who spoke after the second direct Iranian attack on Israel, one day before the start of the Jewish New Year. It followed the April attack days before Passover.
Iran warned it would strike Israel again and hit American targets if any reprisal action was taken against it. Armed Iranian-aligned groups in Iraq warned that US bases there could be a target.
“Should the Zionist regime dare to respond or commit further acts of malevolence, a subsequent and crushing response will ensue,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations wrote on X.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that the order to launch missiles at Israel was made by the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei remains in a secure location, the senior official added.
Iranian response
In an unusual move, Khamenei posted a warning message to Israel in Hebrew on his X account after the attack, stressing that reprisal attacks against it would only grow stronger.
בעזרת השם, מכות חזית ההתקוממות יהפכו חזקות וכואבות יותר על הגוף השחוק והנרקב של המשטר הציוני.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) October 1, 2024
Each one “will become stronger and more painful on the worn and rotting body of the Zionist regime,” Khamenei said.
The United States had warned Israel of the incoming attack, which Iran said was in retaliation for the IDF’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah two weeks ago and the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran over the summer. Israel is widely believed to have been responsible for Haniyeh’s killing but has not taken credit.
The attack followed Israel’s intense bombardment of military targets in Lebanon belonging to the Iranian proxy group in the last weeks.
On Monday night, its ground troops entered southern Lebanon for the first time since the Second Lebanon War in 2006 in an attempt to push Hezbollah away from its border area.
The US warned Israel on Tuesday that an attack was imminent. US President Joe Biden posted on X that he and Vice President Kamala Harris had “convened our national security team to discuss” the attack and US efforts to defend Israel and American personnel in the region.
This morning, @VP and I convened our national security team to discuss Iranian plans to launch an imminent missile attack against Israel.We discussed how the United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 1, 2024
Sullivan told reporters that “US naval destroyers joined Israeli air defense units in firing interceptors to shoot down” some 200 “inbound missiles.”
Biden and Harris “monitored the attack and the response from the White House Situation Room,” he said.
“We are still working with the IDF and the authorities in Israel to assess the impact of the attack,” Sullivan said adding that US officials were holding consultations with their Israeli counterparts.
Prior to the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We are in the midst of a campaign against Iran’s axis of evil.
“I said yesterday that these are days of great achievements and great challenges,” Netanyahu explained. “Great achievements because we thwarted Nasrallah and his top command and Hezbollah’s plan to occupy the Galilee.”
The elimination of the threat from Hezbollah is an essential step in returning the over 60,000 residents to their homes on the northern border, he explained.
“We are determined” to do this, Netanyahu stated.
At the same time, he called on Israelis to do two things – to obey Home Front Command directives and, second, “to stand together.”
Reuters contributed to this report.