He president joe biden warned the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States will not participate in a counteroffensive against Iran if Israel decides to retaliate for a massive drone and missile attack against its territory overnight, a White House official said.
The threat of an open war breaking out between the enemies of the East and dragging USA has put the region on alert, prompting calls for moderation by the World powers and the Arab countries to avoid further escalation.
US media had reported early Sunday that Biden had informed Netanyahu that he would not engage in retaliatory actions in a phone call overnight. The statements were confirmed to Reuters by an official from the White House.
USA will continue to help Israel defend itself, but does not want a warJohn Kirby, the White House’s top national security spokesman, told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.
Iran launched the attack due to an alleged Israeli bombing of its consulate in Syria on April 1, in which senior members of the Revolutionary Guard were killed and which occurred after months of clashes between Israel and Iran’s regional allies, triggered by the Gaza war.
However, the attack by hundreds of missiles and drones, mostly launched from inside Iran, caused only modest damage to Israel, as most were shot down with the help of United States, Great Britain and Jordan.
A base of Air forces in the south of Israel was hit, but continued to function normally and a seven-year-old minor was seriously injured by shrapnel. There were no other reports of serious damage.
Two senior Israeli ministers signaled Sunday that Israel’s retaliation is not imminent and that it will not act alone.
“We will build a regional coalition and exact the price from Iran in the way and at the time that suits us,” centrist Minister Benny Gantz said before a war cabinet meeting.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also said Israel had the opportunity to form a strategic alliance “against this serious threat of IranIran denies seeking nuclear weapons.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Army, Major General Mohammad Bagheriwarned on television that “our response will be much greater than tonight’s military action if Israel retaliates against Iran” and told Washington that its bases could also be attacked if it helped Israel retaliate.
Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian said that Tehran had informed the United States that its attack on Israel would be “limited” and in self-defense, and that Israel’s neighbors had also been informed of its attacks 72 hours in advance.
The world powers Russia, China and France, as well as Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates They urged moderation.
“We will do everything possible to prevent a new escalation,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters during a visit to China. “We can only warn everyone, especially Iran, not to continue down this path.”
Türkiye He also warned Iran that he did not want further tensions in the region.
He UN Security Council was scheduled to meet on Sunday at 8:00 p.m. local time after Israel requested that the Iranian attack be condemned and the Revolutionary Guard be classified as a terrorist organization.
Calibrated attack
Analysts debated the extent to which Iran’s attack was calibrated to cause real devastation in Israel, or to save face at home after promises of revenge and, at the same time, avoid a major war.
“I think the Iranians took into account the fact that Israel has a very, very powerful multi-layered anti-missile system, and they probably considered that there would not be too many casualties,” said Sima Shine, a former senior Israeli official. Mossad at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
But if Iran expects a moderate response, as with its missile attacks against US forces in Iraq Following the assassination of Guard commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020, he warned: “I don’t think Israel sees it that way.”
On Saturday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard seized a cargo ship linked to Israel in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy shipping routes, underscoring the risks to the global economy of a broader conflict.
Some flights in countries in the region were suspended and share prices fell on the stock markets of Israel and the Gulf countries.