President Joe Biden and his national security team were monitoring Iran’s airstrike on Israel on Saturday as U.S. forces joined forces to shoot down explosives-laden drones launched from Tehran.
With tensions at their highest level since Israel-Hamas war Biden promised that American support for Israel’s defense against attacks by Iran and its allies six months ago was “ironclad.”
U.S. forces shot down some Iranian-launched attack drones that were heading toward Israel, according to a U.S. defense official and two other U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.
The defense official said efforts to intercept the attack were continuing.
Biden had cut short a weekend stay at his beach house in Delaware to meet with his national security team at the White House on Saturday afternoon, returning to Washington just minutes before Israeli officials confirmed they had detected drones flying from Iran their territory were fired.
He called a policy meeting of the National Security Council in the Situation Room of the White House to discuss the evolving situation, the White House said, before speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Saturday.
The attack marked the first time that Iran launched a direct military attack on Israel, risking a major regional conflict.
The United States and Israel had been preparing for days for an attack that Iran described as retaliation for an attack Suspected Israeli attack This month there was an attack on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed 12 people, including two senior Iranian generals from the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force.
The Pentagon reported that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart “to discuss pressing regional threats… and made clear that Israel can count on the full support of the United States to defend Israel against any attacks by Iran and its regional proxies.” To defend”. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also spoke to his counterpart to reaffirm Washington’s “iron-clad commitment to Israel’s security.”
Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said in a statement Saturday: “Iran has launched an airstrike against Israel.” She added: “The United States will stand with the people of Israel and their defense against these threats from Iran support.”
Biden said Friday that the United States is “committed” to defending Israel and that “Iran will not succeed.” When asked by reporters what his message was for Iran, the president replied only: “Don’t do it.”
He ignored a question about what would trigger a direct response from the U.S. military, and when asked how imminent an Iranian attack on Israel would be, Biden said he didn’t want to go into certain information, “but I expect it sooner than later.” “
The US, along with its allies, have sent direct messages to Tehran to warn against further escalation of the conflict.
During the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, there were almost daily exchanges of fire along the Israel-Lebanon border between Israeli forces and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. U.S. officials have recorded more than 150 attacks by Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria on U.S. forces at bases in those countries since the war began on Oct. 7.
Three US soldiers were killed in an attack in Jordan at the end of January. In retaliation, the US launched a massive airstrike that hit more than 85 targets in seven locations in Iraq and Syria.
In the meantime, on Saturday, Commandos of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard rappelled from a helicopter onto an Israel-bound container ship near the Strait of Hormuz and seized the vessel.
Watson, the NSC spokesman, said the U.S. strongly condemned the seizure and called on Iran to immediately release the ship and crew.
“We will work with our partners to hold Iran accountable for its actions,” she said.
Also on Saturday, some of the worst violence since Hamas’ attack on Israel occurred in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.