The U.S. has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel, a senior White House official tells says.
The big picture: Tehran has been vowing retaliation after a series of recent Israeli assassinations. The White House believes it is about to begin, and is already warning of “severe consequences” for Iran.
- “We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack. A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran,” the White House official said.
- A senior Israeli official tells Axios the latest intelligence is that the attack will be carried out in the next few hours. The warning from the U.S. came at around noon local time (5am ET), the official said.
- A source with direct knowledge said the assessment in Israel and the U.S. is that the scope of the Iranian attack will be similar to Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory last April. That drone and missile attack was largely repelled by Israel and its partners, led by the U.S.
Driving the news: The warnings of an imminent attack came just hours after Israel escalated its conflict with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia, by launching a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
- Iran has been promising retaliation against Israel for two months, since the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
- Iran has yet to respond to that attack, and also rebuffed urging from Hezbollah to launch an attack against Israel within the past two weeks, Axios reported.
- U.S. and Israeli officials have been concerned that the Israeli ground invasion and the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah — a longtime ally of Iran’s supreme leader — would push Iran to change course and get more directly involved to save the militia it has armed and supported for decades.
What they’re saying: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened security consultations and said in a statement: “We are in the midst of a campaign against Iran’s axis of evil. We must stand together. We will stand firm together in the challenging days ahead.”
- Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Adm. Daniel Hagari said the IDF had been informed by the U.S. of “Iranian preparations to fire missiles at Israel imminently,” but that no “air threat from Iran” had yet been detected.
- “Our air defense systems are fully prepared and air force jets are patrolling the sky. We are at peak readiness in offense and defense together with our partners from the U.S. and are following the developments in Iran together. An Iranian attack on Israel will have consequences,” Hagari said.
- Secretary of State Tony Blinken said at the top of his meeting with the foreign minister of Morocco that the U.S. is closely following the situation in the Middle East and is committed to Israel’s security.
- Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered no hint of how Iran would respond to Friday’s attack that killed Nasrallah and a senior Iranian general beyond saying the “criminal” Israeli government would “regret its actions.”
Flashback: Iran launched a massive drone and missile attack against Israel in April in retaliation for another Israeli airstrike that killed a top Iranian general in Syria.
- Most of the drones and missiles were intercepted by Israeli, U.S., British, French, Jordanian and Saudi forces outside of Israeli airspace, and there were several injuries in Israel but no fatalities.