Washington:US President Joe Biden ruled out any Israeli counter-offensive against Iran by US and conveyed his country's decision to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the issue, a White House official said.
In an unprecedented escalation, Iran has rained hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel on Saturday night in response to a suspected Israel attack on Iran’s Syria consulate on April 1.
Biden during his conversation with Netanyahu lauded Israel's “remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks.” Biden did not say in the statement if he and Netanyahu discussed a possible Israeli response or potential U.S. involvement.
John Kirby, the White House’s top national security spokesperson, earlier echoed Biden and said United States will continue to help Israel defend itself, but does not want war with Iran.
On a question if the United States would support retaliation from Israel in Iran, Kirby said his country's “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. We don’t seek escalated tensions in the region. We don’t seek a wider conflict,” Kirby said.
Amid the rising Israel-Iran tensions, Russia, United Arab Emirates and Germany urged restraint. Though Iran's retaliatory air strikes at Israel caused only minor damages, Israel has vowed to strike back "at the right time".