Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) agrees that the United States should not yet get involved in a conflict with Iran after it launched hundreds of missiles toward Israel since Saturday.
However, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee warned President Joe Biden not to wait too long to “step up” in the region because it could lead to greater conflict.
He told NBC News host Kristen Welker on Sunday that the Biden administration must make it clearer to Iran that there will be serious consequences from the United States if they continue to launch attacks against Israel.
So far Biden and his national security and defense officials have reiterated their ‘strong’ support for defending Israel against attacks. But the administration has distanced itself from any involvement in any Israeli counterattack against Iran.
“I do not believe that at this point the United States should engage in military action directly against Iran,” Rep. Turner said in his Meet the Press interview.
House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner said Sunday that he agrees that the United States should not yet engage in military action against Iran following its attacks on Israel over the weekend.
Iran and other Middle East proxies launched at least 200 missiles and drone strikes toward Israel since Saturday, most of which were intercepted before reaching Israeli airspace.
Every day that the Biden administration does not communicate to Iran the consequences of its attacks on Israel becomes more dangerous for US troops and facilities in the Middle East, Turner said.
However, President Biden’s Homeland Security spokesman John Kirby previously said in an interview with Meet the Press on Sunday that the United States has communicated to Iran “what we would do” if American troops or facilities were attacked.
He 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 Welker on Sunday morning.
“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,” he said. “But obviously we’re going to watch this very, very closely.”
NSC 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.
“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.
Turner said on Sunday: “I think if this administration does not step forward and understand that we have an escalating conflict, and make it clear to Iran that there are red lines and that the United States will defend Israel and not allow Iran to become in an arms state: we will be in a broader conflict and will have fewer options.
“The fact that they have not managed to lock Iran down and not make them understand that there will be consequences makes it more dangerous every day,” said the chairman of the Intelligence Committee.
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.
Turner warned President Joe Biden that “if this administration doesn’t step up and understand that we have an escalating conflict… we will be in a broader conflict and we will have fewer options.” Pictured: Biden returns to the White House on Saturday afternoon amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
President Joe Biden met with his National Security team in the White House Situation Room on Saturday after returning early from his weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
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.