WASHINGTON — President Biden said Monday that the US and Israel “defeated” the unprecedented Iranian attacks over the weekend — after roughly 99% of missiles and drones launched by Tehran were intercepted before hitting targets in Israel.
Biden, 81, said in his first public remarks since the barrage that “together with our partners, we defeated that attack,” as he hosted Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani in the Oval Office.
“The United States is committed to Israel’s security. We are committed to a cease-fire [between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip] that will bring the hostages home and prevent the conflict from spreading beyond what it already has,” the president also said.
The Israel Defense Forces said that Iran fired 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles toward the Jewish state on Sunday morning local time — nearly all of which were intercepted by the US and Israeli militaries, including from an American base in northern Iraqi.
Iran’s attacks, which were in retribution for an April 1 Israeli airstrike on the country’s consulate in Damascus, Syria, that reportedly killed 16 people, resulted in no deaths in Israel.
Israeli officials say that a young Bedouin Arab girl was seriously injured by apparent shrapnel, but no other casualties were reported.
Sudani, elected in 2022 with support from pro-Iran parties, visited Tehran shortly after Hamas terrorists murdered about 1,200 people on Oct. 7, sparking the Israeli invasion of Gaza.
On Nov. 6, Sudani said at a press conference with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi that “anyone who wants to contain this conflict and to prevent its spillover in the region should exert pressure on the authorities of the [Israeli] occupation to stop this aggression and the devastating and systematic killing,”
That same month, the Iraqi prime minister visited Russian President Vladimir Putin and said that Hamas’ attack on Israel was the “natural result” of Israeli policies toward Palestinians.