The US will not participate if Israel launches a counterattack against Iran. US President Joe Biden informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The White House confirmed this on Sunday (April 14). British news agency Reuters reported this news.
Iran fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday night in retaliation for a suspected Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1.
In a statement after the attack, Biden said he told Netanyahu that Israel had demonstrated a significant ability to defend itself and defeated the unprecedented attack.
In the statement, Biden did not say whether he and Netanyahu had discussed a possible Israeli response or US involvement.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told a US television channel on Sunday that the United States will continue to cooperate in Israel’s defense. However, Washington does not want a war with Iran.
Asked whether the United States would cooperate with a counterattack against Iran, Kirby said, “Our commitment to the defense of Israel and the defense of the country is ironclad.” As the president has said many times, we do not want a major war in the Middle East. We do not want war with Iran. That’s all I’ll say.
Kirby said, we do not want the intensity of tension in the Middle East to increase. We don’t want a big conflict.
Two senior Israeli ministers indicated on Sunday that Israel’s counterattack would not be swift and would not strike alone.
At a wartime cabinet meeting, centrist minister Benny Gantz said, “We will form a regional alliance and we will pay the appropriate price to Iran at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said Israel has an opportunity to form a strategic alliance against the threat of Iran.
The head of the country’s armed forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, told Iran’s state TV that if Israel retaliates against Iran, we will take bigger military steps than tonight.
He said the United States had been warned not to cooperate with Israel’s counterattack. Cooperation would target US bases in the Middle East.
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