Joint Base Andrews: President Joe Biden told reporters on Wednesday that he will not support an Israeli strike on facilities associated with Tehran’s nuclear program as the latter fired about 180 missiles at Israel on Tuesday.
The answer is no, Biden said when asked if he would support such retaliation.
Mr. Biden’s remarks came after a phone call between him and other leaders from the Group of Seven, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK, as they coordinated new sanctions against Iran. The US and its allies are in a scramble to keep control of the Mid East conflict-in which Iran-backed Hamas militants launched an attack on Oct 7 in Gaza because they are urging restraint from Israel in launching a retaliatory attack against Iran for the Tuesday attack.
Israel’s Bombardment of Hezbollah
Israel is now conducting what it has termed as limited ground operations across its northern border with Lebanon in an attempt to dig out Hezbollah, yet another Iran-backed group, following a spate of massive air strikes that killed the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and decimated its leadership.
Last month, thousands of explosives hidden inside Hezbollah-operated pagers and walkie-talkies exploded, killing dozens and injuring thousands of mostly civilian casualties. Israel is believed to have carried out the strike.
Attacking Iran’s Nuclear Facilities
For Israel, perhaps the most starkly ominous was this: Iran had nuclear facilities that Israel could hit to reach its goal of a weapons-free Iran, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighed a range of options in how to respond to Tuesday’s attack. It was the second such attack by Iran on Israel in less than six months.
Options run from a largely symbolic strike, akin to the response used when Iran launched a barrage of missiles and attack drones in April, through strikes on oil facilities and other infrastructure.
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Targeting Iran’s controversial nuclear program, perhaps the most provocative action Israel could take, is one that the Democratic president believes might provoke further enflaming of a Mideast conflict that he already worries could develop into a broader regional conflict.
In a statement Thursday, The White House said G7 leaders “unequivocally condemned Iran’s attack against Israel” and that Biden reaffirmed America’s “full solidarity and support to Israel and its people.” The president added he supports the right of Israel to defend itself and “there are things that have to be done” in response to the Iranian barrage. He said sanctions from the G7 nations would be announced soon.
“We’ll be talking with the Israelis about what they’re going to do,” Biden said as he prepared to travel to the Carolinas to see firsthand the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene. “All seven of us agree that they have a right to respond.”