Joe Biden orders US military to aid Israel, shoot down Iranian missiles

Washington: President Joe Biden ordered the US military on Tuesday to "aid Israel's defence" and shoot down Iranian missiles targeting Israel, the White House said.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee in next month's US presidential election, are both monitoring Iran's attack on Israel from the White House situation room, it said in a statement.

Earlier today, Iran said it has launched dozens of ballistic missiles at Israel.

The claim came in a statement read aloud on state television Tuesday as air raid sirens sounded and explosions were heard in Tel Aviv and near Jerusalem.

The statement warned that “if Israel responds militarily to this operation, it will face a harsher response.” 

Iran's official news agency IRNA said it had launched "a missile attack on Tel Aviv", Israel's commercial hub.

Iran confirms report of firing missiles

Its Revolutionary Guards Corps said the attack was in response to Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last week as well as the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a Tehran bombing widely blamed on Israel.

Israeli airspace was closed with all flights diverted, a spokesman for the airport authority said.

Iraq and Jordan, while lie between between Iran and Israel, closed their airspace too.

As the missiles made their way to Israel from the east, blasts were heard over the Jordanian capital Amman, as Israel's allies moved to intercept them, an AFP correspondent said.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant had earlier discussed the Iran threat with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, a statement from his office said.

While Iran-backed groups across the region had already been drawn into the Gaza war, sparked by Palestinian group Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, Tehran had largely refrained from direct attacks on its regional foe.