I'm a little surprised that Biden didn't go a step further and give Israel permission to bomb the Persian Gulf.
October 3, 2024
Biden: US opposes Israel hitting Iran nuclear sites, response should be ‘proportional’
President says Israel has right to hit back and that G7 leaders agreed to sanction Iran over missile attack; cabinet said holding off on response pending coordination with Washington
by Jacob Magic
TimesOfIsrael.com
US President Joe Biden speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on October 2, 2024.
US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he opposes Israel striking Iran’s nuclear facilities in retaliation for Iran’s ballistic missile attack, telling reporters that Jerusalem has a right to respond but that it should do so “proportionally.”
Biden did say that sanctions would be imposed against Iran and that he discussed the idea with the leaders of the G7 countries in a joint call earlier Wednesday.
“We’ll be discussing with the Israelis what they’re going to do, but all seven of us agree that they have a right to respond but they should respond proportionally,” Biden told reporters before boarding Air Force One. “Obviously, Iran is way off course.”
Israel is reportedly mulling an attack on Iran’s nuclear or oil facilities as part of the retaliation for Tuesday’s attack, which saw Iran fire 181 ballistic missiles at Israel, sending most of the country into bomb shelters and causing considerable damage but only one known fatality — a Palestinian man in the West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared soon after the attack that Iran had made “a big mistake” and would “pay the price.”
Speaking to reporters in Washington, Biden urged Israel to respond “proportionally” to the attack. Asked whether he backs a strike on Iranian nuclear sites, Biden responded: “The answer is no.”
Members of Israel’s Home Front Command and police forces inspect a crater left by an exploded projectile at a heavily-damaged school building in Israel’s southern city of Gedera on October 1, 2024, after Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel
In a meeting after the attack Tuesday evening, Israel’s cabinet had determined to respond forcefully, but to first coordinate with Washington, according to Channel 12.
The Kan public broadcaster cited diplomatic sources as saying Israel’s response would not lead to regional war and reported that the US presidential election next month was a factor in Israeli deliberations.
Missiles launched from Iran towards Israel are seen over Jerusalem, on October 1, 2024.
After the G7 meeting, the White House said Biden had coordinated the multilateral rollout of new sanctions on Iran, and that he and the body “unequivocally condemned Iran’s attack against Israel.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Wednesday that Israel would respond to the Iranian attack, and noted that the military has the capability to “reach and strike any point in the Middle East.”
“Those of our enemies who have not understood this until now, will understand it soon,” he said in a video statement, during a visit to the Tel Nof Airbase.
“Iran fired about 200 missiles at the State of Israel yesterday. Iran attacked civilian areas and endangered the lives of many civilians. Thanks to proper civilian behavior and high-quality defense, the damage is relatively small,” Halevi noted. But, he added, “We will respond; we know how to locate important targets; we know how to strike accurately and powerfully.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi speaks in a video statement from the Tel Nof Airbase in central Israel, October 2, 2024.
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the Biden administration was seeking to align its position with Israel on any response to Iran’s attack, but also recognized the Middle East was on a “knife’s edge” and that a broader escalation could imperil both Israeli and US interests.
Speaking at a virtual event hosted by Washington-based think tank Carnegie Endowment, Campbell repeated the US view that what Tehran has undertaken was “deeply irresponsible” and that there must be a “return message.”
“I think we tried to underscore our support for some of the actions that Israel has taken,” he added.
“We have real wariness about an extended or substantial ground set of operations in Lebanon,” Campbell said, echoing the White House’s misgivings over Israel’s limited invasion of Lebanon Monday.
Kurt Campbell, then-US National Security Council Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs, Senate hearing to confirm his appointment as Deputy Secretary of State, on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 7, 2023.
Israel says its ground operation close to the border in southern Lebnanon aims to remove the threat posed by Iran’s Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, whose relentless rocket fire since October 8 has forced tens of thousands of northern residents from their homes.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Washington’s ambassador to the United Nations, said at a briefing at the UN Security Council Wednesday, “The Iranian regime will be held responsible for its actions.”
“And we strongly warn against Iran – or its proxies – taking actions against the United States, or further actions against Israel,” she added.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday had similarly warned Iran of “severe consequences” for its attacks, saying the US would work with Israel to ensure as much, though he did not elaborate.
“The time for empty calls for de-escalation is over,” Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the emergency UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday.
“This is no longer a matter of words,” he said. “Iran is a very real and present danger to the world, and if they are not stopped, the next wave of missiles will not be aimed solely at Israel.”
Israeli security forces at the scene where a missile fired from Iran hit a school in the town of Gedera, October 1, 2024.
Speaking before Danon, the Iranian ambassador claimed Iran had to launch the missiles at Israel to “restore balance” after a recent series of significant Israeli strikes targeting its regional proxies.
“Each act of restraint taken by Iran has only emboldened Israel to commit greater crimes and more acts of aggression,” said Amir Saeid Iravani. “Consequently, Iran’s response was necessary to restore balance and deterrence.”
Russia’s UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia praised Iran for its “exceptional” restraint in recent months, and said the missile attack on Israel could not be “presented as though all of this happened in a vacuum.”
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, at the UN headquarters in New York, September 30, 2024.
Iran said the Tuesday attack — its second-ever direct assault on Israel — was in retaliation to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforoushan, both killed in an Israeli airstrike last week in Beirut. It also mentioned Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader in Hamas who was assassinated in Tehran in July in a suspected Israeli attack.
The State Department on Tuesday flatly rejected Iran’s claim that its attack was in response to the violation of its sovereignty in the killing of Haniyeh. “This event had nothing to do with Iran’s sovereignty. It has to do with the fact that a number of the terrorist organizations that Iran has set up for years as a way to undermine and attack the State of Israel have been weakened first over the past few months and then most recently over the past few weeks,” spokesman Matthew Miller said, highlighting the killing of Nasrallah.
“To the extent that any Iranian officials have been killed in the past few days in Lebanon or in Syria, it’s because they were meeting with terrorist leaders,” he said.
Shrapnel from the Tuesday missile attack killed a Palestinian man in the West Bank and injured two Israelis, while buildings were damaged in various parts of the country. The army on Wednesday acknowledged some missiles had hit airbases, but said the impact was “ineffective.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a press conference in Qatar Wednesday that Tehran was “not looking for war,” but pledged a stronger response if Israel retaliates for the missile attack.
Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel the night of April 13-14. That strike came in response to an alleged Israeli airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic facility in Damascus on April 1.
Emergency and security personnel search the rubble at the site of strikes that hit a building annexed to the Iranian embassy in Syria’s capital Damascus, on April 1, 2024.
Israel was believed to have responded to the missile-and-drone strike with an airstrike on Iran’s nuclear facility in Natanz, near the city of Isfahan.
Shiite militias in Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” network have also attacked Israel from Iraq and Yemen, in addition to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The attacks began amid the war in Gaza, sparked when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel on October 7 to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, mostly civilians.
Hamas, a Sunni Palestinian terror group, is also part of the so-called Axis of Resistance.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/biden-us-opposes-israel-hitting-iran-nuclear-sites-response-should-be-proportional/
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