How the US helped counter Iran's attack on Israel
American aircraft and planes downed dozens of drones and missiles when Iran launched the attack on Saturday, after Tehran repeatedly threatened to hit back in response to an Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus that killed two top officers at the beginning of the month.
Senior US officials detailed the role Washington played — both militarily and diplomatically — in countering the attack:
— Iranian attack -
Iran launched a barrage of more than 100 medium-range ballistic missiles, more than 30 land-attack cruise missiles and more than 150 attack drones at Israel, a senior US military official said.
US forces «successfully engaged and destroyed more than 80 one-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles (OWA UAV) and at least six ballistic missiles intended to strike Israel from Iran and Yemen,» US Central Command said on Twitter Sunday.
President Joe Biden spent Saturday evening receiving real-time updates in the Situation Room at the White House as the attack unfolded.
«At one point, we knew there were over 100 ballistic missiles in the sky» and «the results of the defenses of course were unclear until all was said and done,» a senior administration official said, describing the tense atmosphere.
— The catalyst -
Israel carried out a strike on Iran's consulate in Damascus on April 1, killing seven Revolutionary Guards including two generals and prompting warnings from Tehran that it would respond.
Top US officials were pulled aside and informed of details about the strike during a visit by the Israeli
