The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to “imminently” launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel, a senior White House official said on Tuesday.
“A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran,” the official told reporters, adding that the US was actively supporting defensive preparations.
The Israeli military’s spokesman said no aerial threats had been identified “at this moment”, but that its air defences were ready.
There was no immediate response from Iran, but its supreme leader vowed on Saturday that Israel’s killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the allied Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, would be avenged.
The warning of an imminent Iranian attack came hours after Israeli troops began an invasion of southern Lebanon, with the military saying they were carrying out raids against “Hezbollah terror targets” in border villages that posed a threat to residents of northern Israel.
Israel has gone on the offensive after almost a year of cross-border hostilities sparked by the war in Gaza, saying it wants to ensure the safe return of residents of border areas who have been displaced by Hezbollah attacks.
However, there are widespread fears that the significant escalation of their long-running conflict risks an all-out regional war that draws in the US and Iran.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a televised briefing on Tuesday afternoon that the US had informed Israel of Iran’s plan for an imminent missile launch.
“At this moment, we do not detect any aerial threat launched from Iran,” he said, before adding: “We have dealt with this type of threat before, and we will deal with it now as well.”
“Our aerial defence systems are fully prepared, and Israeli Air Force aircraft are currently patrolling the skies. However, the defence is not hermetic, and therefore, it is essential to continue following the Home Front Command’s instructions.”
The IDF Home Front Command earlier told the Israeli public that gatherings in an open area should be limited to up to 30 people, and up to 300 people for gatherings in a structure.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israelis in a video statement: “We are in the midst of a campaign against Iran’s axis of evil.
“Together, we will stand steadfast in the trying days ahead of us. Together we will stand. Together we will fight and together we will win.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “We’re tracking events in the Middle East very closely. The United States is committed to Israel’s defence. We’re watching developments as I said very carefully at this moment.”
The US military’s Central Command separately announced that three additional squadrons of F-16 and F-15E fighter aircraft and A-10 attack aircraft were arriving in the Middle East, and that one squadron had already arrived.
Over the weekend, the Pentagon said it had taken steps to further enhance the defence posture of US forces throughout the Middle East to “deter aggression”, including ordering the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to remain in region.
US officials told the BBC’s US partner, CBS News, that any attack from Iran on Israel could be as large or larger than the attack on 13 April.
On that day, Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel in retaliation for a deadly strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria that killed several top commanders.
Almost all of them were shot down by Israel, the US and other Western allies and their Arab partners, and an air base in southern Israel sustained only minor damage when it was hit.
Israel responded by launching a missile that hit an Iranian air base.
US officials said Iran had been ready to launch an attack on short notice since early August, when it threatened to retaliate for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel neither confirmed nor denied that it killed Haniyeh.
On Saturday, a day after Hezbollah’s leader was killed in an Israeli air strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised that the death of Hassan Nasrallah “shall not go unavenged”.
He gave no details, but said: “The fate of this region will be determined by the forces of resistance, with Hezbollah at the forefront.”
Iran has built a network of allied armed groups across the Middle East, which are all opposed to the US and Israel and sometimes refer to themselves as the “Axis of Resistance”. Besides Hezbollah, they include Hamas in the Palestinian territories, the Houthis in Yemen, and a number of Shia militias in Iraq and Syria.