As the Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran entered its fifth day on Tuesday, US officials are becoming increasingly concerned over the rapid depletion of the Israeli regime’s advanced missile interceptors, according to a report.
Quoting a senior US official familiar with resupply efforts, a report in the Middle East Eye said Israel is burning through its stockpile of ballistic missile interceptors at a “rapid clip.”
The concern is particularly acute within segments of the US government that worry a direct American strike on Iran could provoke massive Iranian retaliation against Israel, risking a “horrendous” drawdown of the US global inventory of interceptors.
Since June 13, Iranian retaliatory military operation True Promise III has inflicted heavy blows not only on the Israeli military-industrial complex but also on its depleting air defenses.
Arrow air defense system, which is jointly developed by the US and Israel and designed to shoot down long-range ballistic threats, is considered expensive to replenish.
The Israeli regime’s challenges in restocking these interceptors have continued since True Promise I in April 2024 in response to the Israeli attack on Iran’s diplomatic mission in Syria.
“The types of interceptors that are required to shoot down ballistic missiles are expensive and difficult to produce in mass quantities,” Dan Caldwell, a former senior Pentagon official, was quoted as saying in the report.
He warned that Israel and the US may soon have to ration their stockpiles, especially given previous expenditures against attacks from the Yemeni military.
“We don’t know how much more Iran can launch,” said Josh Paul, a former US State Department official who resigned in protest of US support for Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, was quoted as saying. “I think it is a problem more of launchers than missiles.”
Three Arab officials involved in mediation between Washington and Tehran told the Qatari news website that they believe direct US involvement in Israeli strikes on Iran is becoming increasingly likely, while, many already describing Washington as a “co-belligerent.”
A US defense official, the report stated, claimed that the US Navy has used SM-3 ship-based interceptors to shoot down Iranian missiles from the eastern Mediterranean, adding that they are not in infinite supply.
On Tuesday, hours after he directly threatened Iran, Trump held a meeting in the Situation Room with national security advisers, US media reported.
According to analysts, Trump has been held hostage by Netanyahu and the influential Israeli lobby in Washington, who are pressing him to go ahead with the direct strike, despite many of his advisors warning him against such a reckless move.
Trump has even disregarded US director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s recent assessment that clearly stressed that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons.
“UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Trump wrote in a social media post on Tuesday, which many saw as a direct warning to Iran and his collusion with Netanyahu.
