The British and French military, along with the United States, helped Israel repel a massive air strike by Iran and pro-Iranian forces in neighboring countries on the night of April 14. This was stated by Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari, as quoted by CNN.
“We are working closely with the United States, Britain, and France, who joined us tonight. Our partnership has always been close, but today it manifested itself in a very unusual way,” Hagari said.
President Joe Biden has publicly stated that US forces in the region helped shoot down some of the drones and unmanned aerial vehicles launched by Iran at targets in Israel.
Unofficial reports claimed that the US had used air defense systems on destroyers and fighter jets to shoot down more than 70 air targets.
The EU and European countries condemned Iran’s attack against Israel
A number of European leaders have condemned the massive air strike by Iran and pro-Iranian forces in neighboring countries against Israel on the night of April 14, which involved nearly 300 missiles and attack drones.
In the first hours of the attack, EU Chief Diplomat Josep Borrell expressed the EU’s strong condemnation of the attack and called it unacceptable.
“The EU strongly condemns the unacceptable Iranian attack against Israel. This is an unprecedented escalation and a grave threat to regional security,” Borrell wrote.
Iran fired more than 200 missiles and drones at Israel
The Israeli Defense Forces reported that during the April 13–14 attack, Iran fired more than 200 missiles and drones at Israel, most of which air defense and fighter jets shot down. More than 100 drones fired by Iran were shot down outside Israeli airspace.
Later, it was clarified that there were more than 300 air targets, of which about 170 were attack drones, more than 30 were cruise missiles, and 120 were ballistic missiles, almost all of which were shot down. Pro-Iranian forces in Iraq and Yemen carried out some of the launches.
Israel managed to intercept most of the air targets. Iran’s attacks caused minor damage to only one Israeli military base. The Arrow long-range air defense system intercepted most of the missiles and shot them down outside Israeli airspace. One of the strikes is known to have injured a young girl in the Negev. Doctors claim that falling debris caused the girl’s injuries.
In relation to the attack, U.S. President Joe Biden convened a security team for discussion and spoke with the Israeli Prime Minister. He also said that he would convene an extraordinary meeting of the Group of Seven leaders on April 14 to coordinate a diplomatic response to Iran’s attack.
Iran’s attack on Israel bears similarities to Russia’s air assaults against Ukraine
According to the Institute for the Study of War, Iran’s attack on Israel bears similarities to Russia’s air assaults against Ukraine. Iran was trying to determine how to break through Western air and missile defenses.
Additionally, Iranian “proxies” in Lebanon and Yemen became more active in parallel. This was also supposed to affect the ability of Israel and its allies to repel a massive attack.
The ISW notes that Iran’s April 14 missile and drone attack shows that the country is learning from the Russians and Houthis to develop increasingly dangerous and effective strikes against Israel and the United States.
Iranian drones and cruise and ballistic missiles against Israel aim to deceive and disrupt Israeli air defense. Part of this effort involves simultaneous attacks by Iranian-backed proxies in Lebanon and Yemen, analysts noted.
At the same time, this Iranian approach is reminiscent of Russian attacks using a combination of ballistic and cruise missiles along with drones to launch increasingly effective strikes that can penetrate Western air defense systems.
The Institute for the Study of War believes that Iran has also learned lessons from Houthi attacks on international shipping around Yemen. They used a combination of Iranian drones and missiles against US air defense, which allowed them to test and improve their strike systems.
Analysts predict that the continued use of Iranian-designed UAVs by various US adversaries, combined with their cooperation, could potentially increase the ability of Tehran, Russia, North Korea, and China to use these systems against the United States and its allies. Thus, the United States and its partners face an increasingly interconnected group of adversaries that assist and learn from each other.
