Iran says it gave warning 72 hours before attacking Israel. Not true, US says
- US denies receiving extensive notice before Iran’s Israel attack on the weekend
- Most Iranian drones and missiles were downed before reaching Israeli territory
Turkish, Jordanian and Iraqi officials said that Iran gave wide notice days before its drone and missile attack on Israel, but US officials said Tehran did not warn Washington and that it was aiming to cause significant damage.
Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles on Saturday in a retaliatory strike after a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria.
Israel said more than 99 per cent of what Iran fired was intercepted, with just a few missiles getting through. An Israeli air base sustained minor damage.
Israel has over the years established - often with the help of the US - a multilayered air-defence network that includes systems capable of intercepting a variety of threats, including long-range missiles, cruise missiles, drones and short-range rockets.
That system, along with collaboration with the US and others, helped thwart what could have been a far more devastating assault at a time when Israel is already deeply engaged in Gaza as well as low-level fighting on its northern border with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran.