The White House on Thursday condemned Iran’s attack against Israel from Syria, and said Israel has the right to defend itself, which it did in a series of strikes overnight.
“The United States condemns the Iranian regime’s provocative rocket attacks from Syria against Israeli citizens, and we strongly support Israel’s right to act in self-defense,” the White House said in a statement.
“The Iranian regime’s deployment into Syria of offensive rocket and missile systems aimed at Israel is an unacceptable and highly dangerous development for the entire Middle East,” it said. “Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bears full responsibility for the consequences of its reckless actions, and we call on the IRGC and its militant proxies, including Hizballah, to take no further provocative steps.”
Israel’s military said Thursday that it struck “dozens” of Iranian targets in Syria after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli targets in the Golan Heights.
CBS News reports that this military confrontation was the most serious between Israel and Iranian forces so far, and was spurred just a day after President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal.
Israeli forces said it successfully hit elite Iranian sites related to logistics, intelligence and ammunition storage stationed in Syria, as well as destroying several air defense systems.
“It will take substantial time for the Iranians to replenish these systems,” said Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman.
The Trump administration has offered support for Israel’s escalatory strikes inside Syria as Israel concerns are heightened by Iran’s presence in Syria.
When withdrawing from the Iran deal, Trump told the U.S. military to make new plans that would meet “all possible modes of Iranian aggression against the United States, our allies, and our partners.”
