US air defenses failed to intercept Iranian missiles: Israeli media

JERUSALEM

US air defenses last month largely failed to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles fired at Israel, Israeli media said on Wednesday.

Israeli Army Radio said only two out of eight ballistic missiles launched from the sea were shot down by US air defenses.

No further details were provided by the broadcaster, which did not cite any source for its claim.

There was no immediate US comment on the report.

On April 14 Iran launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Israel, in its first-ever direct attack. Tehran said the attack was in response to an April 1 strike on its consulate in Syria, which left seven military advisers dead.

Israel and the US said at the time of the attack that most Iranian missiles and drones were downed before reaching Israel.

Israel responded to the Iranian attack a week later by carrying out a drone strike on a military base in the central city of Isfahan, which Iranian authorities claimed to have thwarted.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar