White House vows ‘severe consequences’ after ‘defeated and ineffective’ Iran attack on Israel — but won’t say what
WASHINGTON — The White House promised Tuesday that Iran would face “severe consequences” for its ballistic missile attacks against Israel Tuesday — but refused to detail what those might be.
The US helped Israel successfully counter the roughly 180 missiles Tehran lobbed at the Jewish state, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters, as the Pentagon noted that the American destroyers USS Cole and USS Bulkeley launched about a dozen interceptors at Iranian projectiles.
“This attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective,” Sullivan emphasized.
“We are proud of the actions that we’ve taken alongside Israel to protect and defend Israel,” he went on. “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.”
Sullivan added that Tuesday’s attack was a “significant escalation by Iran, a significant event, and it is equally significant that we were able to step up with Israel.”
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris monitored the attack from the Situation Room, the latter said in brief remarks Tuesday afternoon.
“Iran is a destabilizing, dangerous force in the Middle East, and today’s attack on Israel only further demonstrates that fact,” Harris said. “I fully support President Biden’s order for the US military to shoot down Iranian missiles targeting Israel, just as we did in April.”
The 2024 Democratic presidential nominee also said she would “always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist militias.”
“Let us be clear, Iran is not only a threat to Israel. Iran is also a threat to American personnel in the region, American interests and innocent civilians across the region who suffer at the hands of Iran-based and backed terrorist proxies,” she said.
“We will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists, and we will continue to work with our allies and partners to disrupt Iran’s aggressive behavior and hold them accountable,” she added.
How Israel's Iron Dome works
Israel’s Iron Dome is a high-tech missile defense system designed to shoot down incoming rockets and missiles before they can hit populated areas.
- Detection: Radar scans the skies, tracking incoming rockets or missiles.
- Assessment: The system calculates the threat — where the missile will hit.
- Targeting: If the missile is heading for a populated area, Iron Dome locks on.
- Interception: A missile is fired from an Iron Dome launcher, speeding to intercept.
- Neutralization: The interceptor destroys the incoming rocket mid-air, preventing it from reaching its target.
Biden, meanwhile, said the “defeated” strike’s relative lack of impact was a “testament to Israeli military capability … [and] intensive planning [between] the United States and Israel to anticipate and defend against a brazen attack.”
“Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel,” he said.
But Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on social media that Tehran and its proxy groups’ attacks on Israel would only grow.
“With God’s help, the blows of the uprising front will become stronger and more painful on the worn and rotting body of the Zionist regime,” Khamenei said in a statement posted to X.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Eastern time, Israeli officials had attributed one death — of a Palestinian in the West Bank city of Jericho — and two injuries to the barrage.
“We are now going to look at what the appropriate next steps are to secure, first and foremost, American interests and then to promote stability to the maximum extent possible,” said Sullivan, who demurred when pressed about what those steps might be.
“We’ve had some initial discussions with the Israelis in the aftermath of this at the military level and also at the White House-Prime Minister’s Office levels,” he said. “We’ll continue those conversations in the hours ahead.”
At the State Department, spokesman Matthew Miller said the Harris-Biden administration would “coordinate with [Israel] on what any response might be.”
“There must be consequences for Iran for this attack — we’ve made clear that there must be consequences,” he said. “I’m not going to get into what those consequences are today, but there are things on which we will be coordinating with our Israeli counterparts.”
Reports indicated Tuesday that Israel planned to launch “powerful airstrikes throughout the Middle East” in response to Iran’s attack.
This is a developing story; refresh the page for updates.
