President Biden is of “sleepwalking” the US into another “catastrophic” war in the Middle East, an expert says, as the IDF prepares a retaliatory strike after Iran’s historic missile bombardment over the weekend.

Biden, 81, is facing mounting pressure to silence critics who claim he’s allowed tensions in the region to escalate, as the threat of an Israeli counterstrike on Iran looms.

“The strategy of the Biden administration has failed miserably. Biden is sleepwalking the US into another catastrophic war in the Middle East,” Fawaz Gerges, professor of International Relations and Middle Eastern Politics at the London School of Economics told NBC News.

“His overarching goal of preventing the war in Gaza from escalating into neighboring countries has failed. Biden has failed to influence Netanyahu’s decisions either in Gaza or towards Iran.”

Elsewhere, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Peter Lerner confirmed on Monday that Israel’s retaliation could mean “strike or no strike.”

Lerner said that they are considering a “wide range of options” as there are “a lot of different scenarios” to consider.

He told reporters that the Israeli government will “decide on the steps forward” in the coming days.

“Just because we were successful in intercepting, we shouldn’t underestimate what Iran did,” Lerner added.