US to send antimissile system and troops to Israel amid Iranian threat

The United States will send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and troops to Israel, the Pentagon said Sunday.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized the deployment of the THAAD battery at the direction of President Joe Biden. Ryder said the air defense system will help bolster Israel’s air defenses following Iran’s missile attacks on Israel in April and October.

The move comes hours after Iran’s foreign minister indirectly threatened U.S. forces potentially operating in Israel in an online post Sunday. The comments came in a post on the social platform X long associated with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who helped reached Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

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In the message, Araghchi referred to the United States potentially sending one of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems to Israel. Any move of one of the systems, known by the acronym THAAD, to Israel would involve the deployment of soldiers to operate the complex system.

“The US has been delivering record amount of arms to Israel,” the X message read. “It is now also putting lives of its troops at risk by deploying them to operate US missile systems in Israel.”

It added: “While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests.”

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Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment over the remarks, which were carried by Iranian state media.

Israel is widely believed to be planning to attack Iran over its missile barrage on Israel earlier this month, its second direct attack on Israel during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war that’s widened to Lebanon and involved other Iranian-backed militant groups in the region.

The THAAD is a defensive system that shoots down incoming ballistic missiles, like those fired by Iran in its last attack.

With inputs from agencies.