John Kirby said the United States has told Iran “what we would do” if American troops or facilities were attacked amid the growing conflict in the Middle East.
President Joe Biden’s National Security Council (NSC) spokesman reiterated that the United States does not plan to engage in counterattacks against Iran on behalf of its ally Israel, but will continue to help defend the Jewish nation.
Amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, some Republican lawmakers are dissatisfied with the Biden administration’s response so far to the escalating conflict and want a direct response to last night’s attacks by Iran and its representatives.
‘The president has made it clear: we are not seeking a war with Iran. “We are not seeking a broader war in the region,” Kirby told NBC anchor Kristen Welker on Sunday morning.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sunday that the United States warned Iran against “what we would do” if American troops were attacked in the Middle East amid the escalating conflict in the region.
Iran and its allies have fired 200 drones and missiles at Israel since Saturday night, most of which were intercepted outside the nation’s airspace.
When asked by the Meet the Press host whether Biden had ruled out a direct attack on Iran, Kirby reiterated: “We are not looking for a war with Iran.”
While Kirby says there have been no attacks on US troops, personnel or facilities in the region so far, he says the White House has warned Iran against taking such steps after Tehran said it would attack US forces if they helped. Israel to launch counterattacks.
“We are keeping an eye on exactly that potential threat, but we have not seen any attacks against US troops or personnel in the region or our facilities and there is nothing to report this morning,” Kirby said.
“But obviously we’re going to watch this very, very closely.”
“I would just say that we made it very clear to all parties, including Iran, what we would do and how we would continue to defend Israel, and also how seriously we would take any potential threats to our personnel and our facilities in the region,” the spokesman added. NSC.
Iran launched more than 200 drones and missiles at Israel since Saturday night, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) said.
The vast majority of the attacks were intercepted outside Israeli airspace. But a small number of the dozens of Iranian surface-to-surface missiles hit inside the country, injuring a girl and causing damage to a military facility in the south, armed forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said early Sunday.
President Joe Biden met with his National Security team in the White House Situation Room on Saturday.
President Biden had to cut short his weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, to return to Washington, D.C.
Iran said the strikes came in response to a drone strike in early April in Syria that left 12 Iranians dead, including two top generals.
Biden and his Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin have repeatedly said the United States will continue to help Israel defend itself against Iranian attacks, but they have said Washington will not engage in counterattacks.
It comes after Iran warned last week that if the United States carries out attacks, its forces will attack American personnel and facilities in the region.
Biden had to cut short his beach weekend at his vacation home in Rehoboth, Delaware, to address the growing conflict.
The president arrived at the beach on Friday, but returned to Washington, D.C. just 21 hours later to meet with his defense and national security teams.