US tells Israel it won't join any retaliatory strikes on Iran
Israeli and US aircraft and air defence systems shot down 99% of the drones launched by Iran. |
The White
House has warned Israel that the US will not participate in any retaliatory
strikes on Iran, senior administration officials have said.
Over 300
drones and missiles were fired at Israel overnight, which Iran said was in
response to an 1 April strike on its consulate in Syria.
Almost all
weapons were shot down by Israeli, US and allied forces before they reached
their targets.
Officials
said Joe Biden urged Israel to consider its response "carefully".
Speaking
to reporters on Sunday, a senior administration official said that Mr Biden
told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "think very carefully
and strategically" about how his forces replied to the unprecedented
action, the first direct attack by Iran on the country.
The
official added that the Biden administration believes Israel "got the best
of it" in the exchange, which began when senior Iranian military
commanders were killed at an Iranian consular building in Syria.
About 99%
of the missiles, drones and cruise missiles launched during Iran's retaliatory
operation were shot down or intercepted - which US officials point to as a sign
of Israeli military superiority over Iran.
US
aircraft and naval vessels shot down dozens of Iranian projectiles as the
attack took place. More than 80 drones and at least six ballistic missiles were
downed by US aircraft and vessels or by air defence forces over Iraq.
This
includes seven drones and a ballistic missile as they prepared to launch from
Yemen, US Central Command (Centcom) added in an update on Sunday.
A
conversation took place between Mr Biden and Mr Netanyahu at a time "of
heightened emotion" just after the attack, which included about 100
ballistic missiles simultaneously flying towards Israel.
During the
call, the two leaders had a discussion "about how to slow things down and
think through things", with Mr Biden emphasising that Israel has
"gotten the best of it".
The
official declined to say, however, whether the White House warned against a
significant response, saying only that "it is a calculation the Israelis
have to make".
In a
string of television appearances on US networks earlier in the day, national
security spokesman John Kirby repeatedly said that the US had made it clear to
Israel that it seeks to avoid a wider conflict.
The senior
administration said that the same message has been sent to Iran through
diplomatic channels.
Both Mr
Kirby and the official said that the US would continue to defend Israel, but
has ruled out participating in any Israeli response.
The stance
is one that has sparked criticism from some US lawmakers and former officials
from both sides of the political spectrum.
Ohio
Republican Representative Mike Turner, who serves as chair of the House
intelligence committee, said that Mr Kirby's comments about de-escalating the
conflict were "wrong".
"It
is already escalating, and the administration needs to respond," he said
on NBC.
And John
Bolton, who served as national security adviser under President Donald Trump,
said the US should join Israel if its chose to launch a retaliatory attack on
Iran's nuclear programme.
"I
think it [Israel] can destroy or disable a very substantial part [of the
programme], if not totally," he told NewsNation. "Frankly, if Israel
is prepared to go after Iran's nuclear programme, the United States should
proudly join them."
In the
wake of Iran's attack on Israel, Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, said that the body would "try again" to pass
military aid for Israel.
Previous
attempts to send more aid to Israel have stalled amid Democratic calls that the
aid package should also include assistance for Taiwan and Ukraine.
Mick
Mulroy, a former Deputy Secretary of Defence for the Middle East, told the BBC
that aid for Israel should be passed "without delay".
"If it wasn't for US security assistance, we could be facing a major regional war," he said. "That supplement and the ones for Ukraine and Taiwan are in our national security interest. It is not charity. It's part of the US national defence."
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