US warns of ‘serious consequences’ for Iran after attack on Israel

• The US said Iran would face “serious consequences” for its missile attack on Israel.
• Israel said Iran fired 180 ballistic missiles at it on Tuesday, most of which were intercepted.
• Iran said the attack was in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.

The US has vowed “serious consequences” for Iran after it launched a massive ballistic missile at Israel on Tuesday.

The Israel Defense Forces said Iran fired 180 missiles to Israel in what Iran called a reprisal attack for the recent assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.

“It’s a significant escalation by Iran, a significant event,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at a White House press conference on Tuesday.

“We have made it clear that there will be consequences, serious consequences for this attack, and we will work with Israel to make the case,” Sullivan added.

Announcing the attack, the Israel Defense Forces said on Telegram on Tuesday that “shortly ago, missiles were fired from Iran towards the State of Israel.”

One X post said “all Israeli civilians are in bomb shelters as missiles from Iran are fired at Israel.”

After the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: “Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said late Tuesday that the U.S. would help defend Israel and called the attack “an outrageous act of aggression.”

Sullivan echoed the words of another senior White House official, who told Business Insider before the attack that the US had seen “signs” of an attack against Israel.

“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack,” the anonymous official told BI. “A direct Iranian military attack against Israel will have serious consequences for Iran.”

During the attack, US Navy warships fired interceptors at Iranian missiles.

Sullivan told reporters at the meeting that US naval destroyers “joined Israeli air defense units to fire interceptors to shoot down the incoming missiles.”

“We are not aware of any damage to aircraft or strategic military assets in Israel,” he added, saying the attack “appears to have been defeated” and was “ineffective.”

No injuries were reported in the attack in Israel, but a Palestinian worker was killed by shrapnel in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to The New York Times.

Iran said the missile attack was retaliation against Israel’s recent killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, according to the Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Iranian Armed Forces.

In July, Israel assassinated one of Hamas’ top leaders, Ismail Haniyeh, while he was in Tehran. And on Friday, Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike near Beirut.

U.S. crude oil prices rose more than 5% during trading on Tuesday.

An increase in tensions between Israel and Iran could lead to higher oil prices, Ramanan Krishnamoorti, a professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Houston, told ABC News.

“Clearly this is going to have a huge impact on gas prices,” Krishnamoorti told ABC News. “There’s no doubt about it.”