(CNN) — Iran is poised to launch a ballistic missile attack on Israel soon, the White House warned Tuesday, instantly ratcheting up fears of all-out war in the region.
In a statement released mid-morning, the White House said it had “indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel,” adding the United States was “actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack.”
“A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran,” a senior White House official said in a statement.
Israel assesses that Iran is likely to attack three Israeli air bases and an intelligence base located just north of Tel Aviv, a person briefed on the matter said.
The intelligence base in Glilot was evacuated Tuesday afternoon, the person said, and the Israeli military has put contingency plans for the safety of personnel at those bases into effect.
The US warned Israel that an attack would likely come within the next 12 hours, the person said.
An Israeli source told CNN shortly after the White House’s warning that intense diplomacy is happening behind the scenes, and the current assessment is that an attack will happen shortly.
The Israeli military said it had not yet identified a specific aerial threat from Iran.
“As of this moment, Israel does not perceive imminent threat from Iran,” Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said. During a short video message, Hagari said Israeli military planes are currently “scanning the sky” for any imminent threat from Iran.
“We are on peak alert both on the offensive and the defensive,” Hagari added, warning Iran that any attack on Israel would “have consequences.”
After a year of heightened tensions between Israel and Iran’s proxies in the region — including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen — a potentially imminent attack by Iran toward Israel could further tip the region toward full-scale conflict.
US and Arab diplomats are already concerned about what might happen after Iran’s expected attack, including the scale of Israel’s response. One major concern on their mind is Israel possibly using a forthcoming Iranian strike to respond by striking inside Iran.
“There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach, and that’s true of the entire Middle East,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said during his speech at the United Nations last week.
The US is prepared to do whatever it can to help Israel intercept anything Iran directs its way, similar to how the US offered its assistance in April, when Iran launched a wave of drones and missiles towards Israel — the vast majority of which were successfully intercepted, a US official said.
The US anticipates that the forthcoming attack from Iran against Israel could be similar in scope and scale to the one in April, a US official told CNN.
The US warned Israel early Tuesday morning ET (midday Israel time) that Iran was poised to launch an attack, according to a person familiar with the matter. The warning between the two countries came several hours before the White House announced publicly that it had indications Iran was preparing an attack.
The official said Iran has been postured to move quickly in an attack. After the onslaught of drones and missiles fired toward Israel in April, many of Iran’s assets remained in position.
Tensions between Israel and Iran have ratcheted up significantly in recent weeks as Israel has stepped up its efforts against Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, and Israel on Monday launched aground operation in southern Lebanon.
Netanyahu asked Israelis to “stand together” and keep following the frontline commands as fears of an imminent attack from Iran grow.
Netanyahu said Israel is in the throes of a “campaign against Iran’s axis of evil” and made specific demands from the Israeli public.
“What I ask of you is two things: One – to strictly obey the directives of the frontline command, it saves lives. And second – to stand together,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
The United States is “tracking events in the Middle East very closely” and “is committed to Israel’s defense,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.
“We’re watching developments, as I said, very carefully at this moment,” Blinken said in brief remarks alongside his Moroccan counterpart. Blinken did not make any specific reference to Iran or the potential attack.
The US Embassy in Israel directed all US government personnel and family members “to shelter in place until further notice” because of “the current security situation,” it said in a security alert Tuesday.
“This is provided for your information as you make your own security plans,” the alert said, without mentioning the specific warnings of an imminent attack from Iran.
The-CNN-Wire
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