US is "assisting" Israeli defenses against Iranian missile attacks as situation escalates
Washington DC - The US is now "assisting" Israel in defending against missile attacks, a US official said Friday, amid Israel's conflict with Iran.
"I can confirm that the US is assisting in shooting down missiles targeting Israel," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. No detail was given on the extent of the US role.
One day earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that "we [America] are not involved in strikes against Iran [but] remain in close contact with our regional partners."
US President Donald Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, the White House said, after Israel struck Iran's military leadership and nuclear facilities and Tehran retaliated.
The call was confirmed by a White House official to AFP on condition of anonymity.
Trump had earlier said that he had been made aware of the Israeli strikes before they happened on Thursday.
This comes as Iran reports that a key aboveground component of its uranium enrichment facility in Natanz was destroyed, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday.
"At Natanz, the aboveground part of the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant, where Iran was producing uranium enriched up to 60% U-235, has been destroyed," IAEA nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the UN Security Council.
How destructive were Iran's missile strikes on Israel?
Israel's firefighting service said on Friday that its teams were responding to several "major" incidents resulting from an Iranian missile attack, including efforts to rescue people trapped in a high-rise building.
"Firefighting crews are handling several major incidents, mainly in the Dan region" around Tel Aviv, a statement said, adding that "firefighters are working in a high-rise building to rescue trapped individuals and extinguish a fire, as well as responding to two additional destruction sites."
AFP footage from central Tel Aviv showed fire and smoke rising from a condo tower, a large hole ripped open by an explosion at its base.
After Israel targeted military and nuclear sites across Iran, the Islamic Republic sent a fleet of drones, followed by two salvoes of missiles.
"In both series, less than 100 missiles were fired, most of which were intercepted by air defense systems or did not reach them," Israel's military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a statement.
"There are a limited number of hits on buildings, some from shrapnel from the interception," he added.
Immediately after the first salvo, a thick plume of smoke billowed over the coastal Israeli city of Tel Aviv, an AFP journalist reported.
AFPTV images of the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan showed a street littered with debris from damaged nearby buildings whose facades were torn by a missile's blast.
First responders worked to remove a dozen vehicles destroyed by bits of fallen concrete, metal bars, and wooden planks from a residential building.
A spokesman for Israel's first responders agency, the Magen David Adom, said on private Israeli television channel 12 that 21 people were injured by the missiles, including two in serious condition.
AFP footage in Ramat Gan showed an injured man standing on the street, his nose wrapped in gauze and his shirt covered in blood.
Cover photo: Brendan Smialowski / AFP