REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The US has promised "severe consequences" for Iran after it launched a massive ballistic missile strike on Israel on Tuesday.
The Israel Defense Forces said that Iran fired 180 missiles at Israel in what Iran called a retaliatory attack for the recent assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
"This is a significant escalation by Iran, a significant event," US national security advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters in a White House press conference on Tuesday.
"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.
Announcing the attack, the Israel Defense Forces said on Telegram on Tuesday that "a short while ago, missiles were launched from Iran towards the State of Israel."
In an X post, it said that "all Israeli civilians are in bomb shelters as rockets from Iran are fired at Israel."
After the attack, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: "Iran made a big mistake tonight — and it will pay for it."
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday night that the US would help defend Israel and called the strike an "outrageous act of aggression."
Sullivan echoed the words of another senior White House official, who told Business Insider before the attack that the US had seen "indications" of an attack against Israel.
"We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack," the anonymous official told BI. "A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran."
During the attack, US Navy warships fired interceptors at Iranian missiles.
Sullivan told reporters at the briefing that US naval destroyers "joined Israeli air-defense units in firing interceptors to shoot down inbound missiles."
"We do not know of any damage to aircraft or strategic military assets in Israel," he added, saying the attack "appears to have been defeated" and was "ineffective."
There were no reports of injuries from the attack in Israel, but one Palestinian laborer was killed by falling shrapnel in the Israel-occupied West Bank, per The New York Times.
Iran said that the missile attack was a retaliation against Israel's recent killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, according to the Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the Iranian Armed Forces.
In July, Israel assassinated one of Hamas's top leaders, Ismail Haniyeh, while he was in Tehran. And on Friday, Israel killed Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike near Beirut.
During trading on Tuesday, US crude oil prices surged more than 5%.
An increase in tensions between Israel and Iran could drive oil prices higher, Ramanan Krishnamoorti, a professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Houston, told ABC News.
"Clearly this will have a huge impact on gas prices," Krishnamoorti told ABC News. "There's no doubt about that."
