US to Send Advanced Antimissile Defense System to Israel

The US will deploy an advanced antimissile defense system in Israel to support its ally against attacks from Iran. 

The deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery, also known as THAAD, and associated crew “will augment Israel’s integrated air defense system,” Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said in a statement Sunday. “This action underscores the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran.”

The move comes weeks after Iran fired about 200 missiles on Israeli targets in what it said was retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah by Israel in Beirut, and the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Hezbollah and Hamas are both labeled as terrorist organizations by the US and the European Union. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate.

The action is poised to further antagonize Tehran, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying Sunday that Iran has “no red lines” in defending itself from threats and that the US is “putting lives of its troops at risk by deploying them to operate US missile systems in Israel.”