During a commencement speech at the US Military Academy in New York, President Joe Biden, praised American forces for their role in intercepting the Iranian drone and missile attack aimed at Israel. 

“Ninety-nine percent of the missiles, drones,” Biden highlighted, never reached their targets “because of the quality of our forces.”

Biden was referring to the unprecedented attack of April 13 when Iran initiated an unprecedented offensive from its territory against Israel, deploying over 350 killer drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. In response, a coalition of jets from the US, UK, France, and Jordan effectively formed a defensive barrier, thwarting the Iranian offensive.

“Thanks to the US Armed Forces, we’re doing what only America can do as the indispensable nation, the world’s only superpower,” Biden stated.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) detailed that US forces neutralized over 80 one-way attack drones, accounting for 47% of the drones launched by Iran. This marked the first-ever direct attack from Iranian soil on Israel, an action that shifted global attention from the ongoing Gaza conflict towards Iran, rallying international support for Israel and sparking widespread condemnation of Iran.

The attack was an alleged retaliation to an Israeli air strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria. Following the Iranian bombardment, Israel conducted a precise counterstrike aimed at preventing further escalation into a full-scale conflict. This included targeting and destroying a component of the S-300 air defense system at the Isfahan base, a fact revealed through satellite imagery analysis.

Iran, seemingly cautious of igniting a larger regional conflict, played down the damage inflicted on its airbase and declared it would not pursue further retaliation.