Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that Israel will strike hard against Iran if the country attacks with missiles.
The announcement comes after Israeli and Jordanian forces neutralized an Iranian missile that was aimed at the port city of Aqaba, which is near the Israeli city of Eilat, on Sunday afternoon.
Katz also said that "if the US changes its policy, which could also happen, we are prepared both defensively and offensively," AFP reports.
Unfinished nuclear power plant
For eight consecutive nights, American attacks have been followed by Iranian counterattacks. Earlier this weekend, the United States said two American soldiers had been killed - the first since fighting resumed on July 7 - and that a third American was missing after "Iranian missile and drone attacks" on Jordan.
Iran says the United States has attacked a nuclear power plant under construction in the southwest of the country. The UN agency IAEA says it is investigating the incident but notes that the facility "is in an early stage of construction and did not contain any nuclear materials." At the same time, the UN agency calls for military restraint near nuclear-related sites.
Iran, for its part, claims to have targeted two US bases in Kuwait overnight. Kuwait and Bahrain confirm that they were attacked, but say their air defenses intercepted incoming projectiles.
The Jordanian military says three Iranian missiles aimed at the kingdom were shot down on Sunday, while a fourth landed in an uninhabited area.
Ships stopped
Four ships that attempted to break Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have been forced to abort their journey, Iran's Revolutionary Guard claims.
It was precisely reports of Iranian attacks on merchant ships that triggered new disputes between the United States and Iran a week ago.
And on Sunday, the Revolutionary Guards said they had stopped two of four ships that had tried to leave the Persian Gulf "via an unsafe route," AFP reports. The other two reportedly turned back on their own.
Since the previous ceasefire collapsed, Iran and the US now have competing blockades in the area again - Iran says it controls the Strait of Hormuz, and that no ships are allowed to pass without the Revolutionary Guard's permission, while the US says it is stopping all traffic to and from Iranian ports.
