US shoots down Israel-bound drones fired from Iran [Video]

The US military on Saturday shot down drones fired by Iran and headed toward Israel amid Iran’s retaliatory strike on the country.

“In accordance with our ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, US forces in the region continue to shoot down Iranian-launched drones targeting Israel,” a US defense official told Business Insider in a statement. “Our forces remain postured to provide additional defensive support and to protect US forces operating in the region.”

How many drones or the locations where they were shot down were not specified. However, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it launched a barrage of drones and missiles toward Israel in response to Israel’s April 1 strike on an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, that killed several high-level Iranian military commanders.

Saturday’s strike by Iran began shortly before midnight in Israel, with the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations writing in a post on Xthat the military action was conducted “in …