The United States will not join Israel’s response after Iran’s retaliation

The United States will not join any retaliatory action that Israel takes against Iran in response to the wave of drones, missiles and ballistic missiles that the Islamic Republic launched last night against Israeli territory, a senior US official informed the press this Sunday.

“We would not be part of any response,” a senior US official said during a call with reporters.

According to that source, the United States believes that Israel “has the freedom to defend itself” against any attack, but Washington’s policy is not to participate in such actions. “We couldn’t imagine participating in something like that,” added the aforementioned official.

According to some American media, such as CNN, which cites official sources familiar with the matter, US President Joe Biden conveyed last night in his phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuthat Washington would not participate in an offensive against Tehran.

The officials who spoke with the press this Sunday, on condition of not being cited by name, did not want to confirm that information.

However, They did make it clear that the objective of the Biden Government is to promote an “immediate de-escalation” so that the tension that the war in Gaza has caused in the Middle East does not become a regional conflict, now with the danger of a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran.

“We are not looking for a conflict with Iran,” said one of the sources, who stated, however, that Washington “will not hesitate” to act to protect the forces it has deployed in the region or Israel, its greatest ally in the Middle East, against any type of attack.

The Middle East faces a moment of maximum tension after Iran launched more than 300 drones, missiles and ballistic missiles on Israel last nightin what was the first attack of this type from Iranian soil, waiting to see what the possible Israeli response will be.

Israel – with the help of the United States, the United Kingdom and neighboring Jordan – managed to intercept 99% of these missiles, most outside Israeli airspaceso the Iranian offensive did not cause any deaths, but it did leave a seven-year-old girl seriously injured by shrapnel and there was minor damage to an Air Force base in the south of the country.

Iran has claimed that the wave of attacks is retaliation for the April 1 attack on its Iranian consulate in Damascus, which Tehran blames on Tel Aviv and which killed six Syrians and seven members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, including two general.

Iran has ended its offensive, but has warned that it will counterattack if Israel responds.