Austin: ‘Hard to say exactly’ what Israeli strike on Iran will look like, and how Tehran will respond

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says “It’s hard to say exactly what [Israel’s strike against Iran] will look like.”

“At the end of the day, that’s an Israeli decision, and whether or not the Israelis believe it’s proportional and how the Iranians perceive it, I mean those may be two different things,” Austin tells reporters in Ukraine.

“We’re going to do – continue to do – everything we can… to dial down the tensions and hopefully get both parties to begin to de-escalate. So, we’ll see what happens,” he adds.

Austin makes the comments as he confirms that a US missile defense system is “in place” in Israel.

Iran has been bracing for retaliation after its October 1 attack on Israel that included firing some 200 ballistic missiles — which it said came in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon last month that killed the top leadership of the Hezbollah terror group, an Iranian proxy, and a July blast in Tehran that killed Hamas politburo head, Ismail Haniyeh. Israel has not taken responsibility for the Tehran explosion.