Amman: In what could be seen as a big provocation to Iran, Jordan on Sunday opened its airspace for the Israeli military in a bid to intercept and shoot down Iranian drones and missiles. Jordan's unexpected move is seen as a direct violation of Iran's warnings. Even Western allies in the Middle-East, including Qatar and Kuwait, banned the use of their airspace against Iran.

At the time of the attack, both Qatar and Kuwait had communicated to the United States that they will not allow the use of their airspace against any military actions on Iran, according to local reports. This came as a huge last-minute blow as Qatar has the largest US military aircraft base in West Asia. On the other hand, Jordan allowed the use of its airspace to the US and UK military and shot down scores of drones headed towards Israel. The unexpected show of support came amid Jordan's heavy criticism of Israel over its ongoing war in Gaza.

Iran launched its first direct military attack against Israel on Saturday. The Israeli military says Iran fired more than 100 bomb-carrying drones toward Israel. Hours later, Iran announced it had also launch much more destructive ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.

Iran had been threatening to attack Israel after an airstrike earlier this week widely blamed on Israel destroyed Iran's consulate in Syria, killing 12 people, including two elite Iranian generals.

The Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement early Sunday the “vast majority” of missiles launched from Iran were intercepted outside of Israel's borders. Israel has made missile defense a priority, with a variety of air-defense systems available to shoot down incoming missile and drone fire.

Israel and Iran have been on a collision course throughout Israel's six-month war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. The war erupted after Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups backed by Iran, carried out a devastating cross-border attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others.

(With inputs from agencies)