US sent 300 Hellfires to Israel before Iran raid, helped intercept Tehran’s missiles - report
Because the missiles were part of a US $7.4 billion arms package approved by Congress in February, the transfer required no new notification.
The United States covertly shipped about 300 AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles to Israel on Tuesday, two US officials told Middle East Eye, confirming that Washington had advance knowledge of Jerusalem’s plan to strike Iranian nuclear and military targets early Friday. The same officials said US ground-based air-defence assets later helped Israel intercept more than 150 Iranian ballistic missiles fired in response.
Hellfires, laser-guided munitions best suited for pinpoint attacks on personnel and command posts, “were useful to Israel,” a senior US defence official was quoted as saying, noting that the IAF used more than 100 aircraft to hit senior Revolutionary Guard officers, nuclear scientists and control centres around Isfahan and Tehran. Because the missiles were part of a US $7.4 billion arms package approved by Congress in February, the transfer required no new notification.
Iranian and Israeli casualties
Iran’s health ministry on Saturday put the death toll from the Israeli raids at 78, with over 320 wounded, while the IDF confirmed one Israeli woman was killed and about 40 people injured when Iranian missiles and debris landed in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Israel said it intercepted “most” of the more than 150 ballistic missiles and 100 drones launched by Iran, an effort bolstered by U.S. tracking and intercepts.A senior Israeli security source told Reuters that Mossad commandos had penetrated deep inside Iran to disable air-defence nodes before the air strike, part of a deception plan that included a false press briefing to mask the timing. reuters.com US President Donald Trump told Reuters the administration “knew everything” but kept public ambiguity to preserve “a last chance” for diplomacy. Talks aimed at reviving a nuclear deal, tentatively set for later this month in Oman, are now “in deep freeze” after Tehran accused Washington of enabling Israel’s assault.
Tehran vows ‘forceful response’
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that Iran would make Israel “regret” the strike if it is repeated, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation would continue “until the Iranian threat is removed.” Israeli defence officials told The Jerusalem Post they are bracing for further salvos or proxy attacks, even as emergency teams comb impact sites for unexploded ordnance and structural damage in central Israel.
