Following Iran’s unprecedented airstrikes on Israel, US President Joe Biden has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his country would not engage in any counterattack against Tehran.
According to a senior US administration official, the comments were conveyed in a phone call with Netanyahu in the wake of Iran’s strikes against Israel.
Biden, during the conversation over phone, cleared thathis country will not involve in any offensive actions against Iran. The White House official said that Netanyahu had accepted this US stance.
The US president and his senior advisors are highly concerned that an Israeli retaliation to Iran’s airstrikes could escalate into a widespread conflict.
Biden, in a statement after the phone call, said that the
US military had deployed aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers in the region last week to assist Israel in foiling incoming drones and missiles from Iran, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq.
US President Biden is set to hold a call with the G7 leaders today (Sunday) to discuss and coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s airstrikes.
Earlier, Iran late on Saturday launched an air attack on Israel with over 200 drones and missiles, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed.
The IRGC said the action was taken under the operation “True Promise”, adding that the move was part of the punishment for “Israeli crimes”.
Sirens sounded in many places and blasts heard in the skies above Jerusalem early on Sunday, international media reported as Iran’s proxies and allies carried out coordinated attacks on Israeli positions.
Israel said the drones would take several hours before reaching its airspace.
The attack come nearly two weeks after Israel attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria leaving seven IRGC members dead.
“We launched an operation using drones and missiles in response to the Zionist entity’s crime of targeting the Iranian consulate in Syria,” the IRGC said in a statement.
“The operation was carried out with dozens of missiles and drones to strike specific targets in the occupied territories.”
