The United States has seen indications that Iran is preparing to “imminently” launch a ballistic missile attack on Israel on the heels of Israel’s ground incursion into south Lebanon, a senior White House official told NBC News on Tuesday,
The White House official warned that any direct attack on Israel by Iran “will carry severe consequences for Iran.”
“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack,” the official said.
That official and a Defense Department official said that Iran is expected to target military and government sites, not civilian locations.
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem directed all U.S. government employees and their families in Israel to “shelter in place until further notice.”
The embassy in the same notice said it “reminds U.S. citizens of the continued need for caution and increased personal security awareness as security incidents, including mortar and rocket fire and unmanned aircraft system UAS intrusions, often take place without warning.”
“The security environment remains complex and can change quickly depending on the political situation and recent events,” the notice said.
Iran’s suspected planned attack came as Israeli ground forces crossed into south Lebanon as part of an attack on Hezbollah, the militant group backed by Iran. The number of Israeli troops who have entered Lebanon is in “the low hundreds,” an Israeli official told NBC News.
Israel last week killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a bombing in Beirut.
Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the killing of Nasrallah and a senior Revolutionary Guards commander in that attack “will not go unanswered.” Aragchi said the United States was “complicit in this crime.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 250 points by 10 a.m. ET, spurred by a surge in the cost of West Texas Intermediate crude oil, on fears of heightened tensions in the petroleum-rich Middle East.
The WTI November contract was up nearly 3% by midmorning, hovering shy of $70 a barrel.
In April, Iran launched an attack on Israel that included more than 300 drones and ballistic missiles after two top Iranian commanders were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Syria.
Most of the missiles and drones were shot down by the Israeli and U.S. militaries.
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