US tells Israel it will not take part in retaliatory strikes against Iran
US President Joe Biden has told Israeli Prime Minister the US would not participate in any counter-offensive against Iran following Saturday’s unprecedented attack.
His comments come as Israel weighs up its response to the assault, in which 300 drones and missiles were launched by Iran in its first-ever direct military attack on the country.
A host of global powers have called for restraint and to stop the conflict from escalating.
On Sunday Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council: “The Middle East is on the brink. The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate.”
A senior administration official said on Sunday that the US President had told Benjamin Netanyahu to “think very carefully and strategically” about the response to Iran’s attack.
“We believe Israel has freedom of action to protect itself and defend itself, in Syria or elsewhere… That’s a long-standing policy and that remains, but no we would not envision ourselves participating in such a thing,” one senior US administration official said.
In a statement issued late on Saturday following the attacks, Mr Biden said he told Netanyahu that Israel had “demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks.”
John Kirby, the White House’s top national security spokesperson, told the ABC the US will continue to help Israel defend itself, but does not want war with Iran.
Asked if the United States would support retaliation from Israel in Iran, Kirby said that “our commitment is ironclad” to defending Israel and to “helping Israel defend itself.”
“And as the president has said many times, we don’t seek a wider war in the region. We don’t seek a war with Iran. And I think I will leave it at that,” Kirby added.
“We don’t seek escalated tensions in the region. We don’t seek a wider conflict,” Kirby said.
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