ADDS DETAILS
By Diyar Guldogan
WASHINGTON (AA) - The US condemns a ballistic missile attack by Iran against Israel, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
"Iran conducted a significant attack against Israel today, launching approximately 200 ballistic missiles targeting several locations in Israel," spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters. "We condemn these reckless attacks by Iran, and we call on Iran to halt any further attacks, including from its proxy forces.”
Ryder said the US military coordinated "closely" with the Israeli army to help defend Israel during the attack.
"US Navy destroyers deployed to the Middle East region supported the defense of Israel by firing approximately a dozen interceptors against the incoming Iranian missiles," he said.
Iran fired the ballistic missiles at Israel amid heightened tensions between the two regional arch-rivals.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG) said the attack was in response to the assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and IRGC commander Abbas Nilforoshan.
Asked how much warning the US was given by Iran, Ryder said: "I'm not aware of any pre-warning by Iran about their potential attack.”
He added that beyond the navy destroyers, no other US military assets helped shoot down the Iranian missiles.
"So just being clear, no ground-based interceptors were used in this," he said.
Asked did the US destroyers hit any of the missiles, Ryder said he does not have information to provide. "We're still assessing," he added.
- 'Twice' the number of ballistic missiles than in April
He said the US "fully" supports Israel's right to defend itself after Iran's "significant" attack and Washington will continue to consult "closely" with Israelis.
"Certainly, this was a significant attack, probably about twice the size in terms of scope of what we saw earlier," said Ryder, referring to Iran's attack against Israel earlier this year.
"It's about twice as large in terms of the number of ballistic missiles that they launched," he added.
Iran carried out a rocket and drone attack in April against Israel in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike on its diplomatic facility in the Syrian capital of Damascus that killed at least seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two top generals.
Tensions are running high in the Middle East following the July 31 assassination of Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital of Tehran and Israel's assassination of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.
Ryder reiterated that a diplomatic resolution is "the only way" to achieve lasting stability and security across the Israel-Lebanon border.
"We certainly hope that there's not another attack. But obviously, Iran maintains a capability, and it's just demonstrated that they're willing to use it to directly attack Israel," he said.