United States officials are not planning on participating in a counterattack against Iran after its unprecedented missile attack against Israel on Saturday night, with senior Biden administration officials saying the decision to respond lies with the Jewish state.
“You know, we believe Israel has freedom of action to protect itself and defend itself in Syria or elsewhere. That’s a common — that’s a long-standing policy, and that remains. But no, we would not envision ourselves participating in such a thing,” a senior administration official told reporters when asked about possible retaliation during a background national security call on Sunday.
Iran launched more than 200 UAVs, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles into the Jewish State on Saturday night and into Sunday morning. Israeli military forces have said they were able to intercept “99% of the threats launched toward Israeli territory.”
President Joe Biden released a statement praising Israel’s “remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks” and reaffirmed “America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well.
The Jewish state so far has not announced plans to retaliate. The senior Biden administration official noted that a counterattack is “not what they are looking for” and that “no one wants to run up the escalation ladder.”
“Israel, it will make us make its own decisions,” the official said. “But we made our views known, and I think the president in this call came at a moment in which we have just gone through this incredibly intense period of time.”
U.S. and Israeli officials spoke on the attack during a call, in which they detailed that Iran delivered a message to the U.S. through the Swiss.
“Basically suggesting that they were finished after this, but it was still an ongoing attack,” the senior administration official said.
On Sunday morning, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Biden has been clear that he does not want to see an escalating conflict with Iran. A senior defense official echoed Kirby’s comments on Sunday’s background call, adding that the U.S. “does not seek conflict” with Iran, and the goal remains to “deescalate immediately” and halt a broader regional conflict in the Middle East.
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The G7 leaders released a statement on Sunday condemning Iran’s missile attack, expressing full solidarity for the Jewish state.
“With its actions, Iran has further stepped toward the destabilization of the region and risks provoking an uncontrollable regional escalation. This must be avoided,” read the statement. “We will continue to work to stabilize the situation and avoid further escalation. In this spirit, we demand that Iran and its proxies cease their attacks, and we stand ready to take further measures now and in response to further destabilizing initiatives.”