One U.S. official at the time reported that the number of drones was between 50 and 100. The attack was widely expected to occur after Israeli forces killed a senior officer in Iran's embassy in Damascus a week earlier.

U.S. military personnel later announced that they had successfully intercepted several unmanned Iranian drones that were purportedly heading towards Israeli territory in the attack, according to statements from three high-ranking U.S. officials.

It was later reported that the Iranian drones were shot down by American, British, Israeli and Jordanian forces. And, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates shared intelligence about Iranian plans with the U.S. on the attack.