JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. — President Joe Biden said Wednesday that it would not support an Israeli strike in places linked to Tehran nuclear program in response to Iran missile attack on Israel.
“The answer is no,” Biden told reporters when asked whether he would support such retaliation after Iran fired about 180 missiles at Israel on Tuesday.
Biden’s remarks came after he and other Group of Seven leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Britain spoke by phone about coordinating novel sanctions against Iran.
The US and allies are trying to hold on Middle East conflict – caused by Iran-backed Hamas militants during Gaza’s attack on Israel on October 7 – before spreading further. They call on Israel to show restraint as it considers retaliation against Iran for Tuesday’s attack.
Israel is now implementing what he described narrow ground operations crossed the northern border into Lebanon to dig out Hezbollah, another Iran-backed group, after carrying out a series of massive airstrikes that killed the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and decimated his leadership.
Last month, thousands of explosives hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah detonated, killing dozens of people and maiming thousands, many of them civilians. Israel is widely believed to be behind the attack
Biden, as Prime Minister of Israel, expressed his opposition to Israel striking Iranian nuclear facilities Benjamin Netanyahu weighed A range of options how to respond to Tuesday’s attack. It was Iran’s second such attack on Israel in less than six months.
Israel’s choice ranges from a largely symbolic strike – similar to how Israel reacted after Iran launched a series of missiles and attack drones in April – hitting oil facilities and other infrastructure.
Targeting Iran’s controversial nuclear program is seen as perhaps the most provocative action Israel could take. According to the democratic president, this may further inflame the conflict in the Middle East, which – as he already fears – may develop into a broader regional conflict.
The White House said in a statement that G7 leaders “unequivocally condemned Iran’s attack on Israel” and that Biden reaffirmed America’s “full solidarity and support for Israel and its people.”
Biden added that he supports Israel’s right to self-defense and “there are things that need to be done” in response to the Iranian shelling. He said he expected sanctions to be announced soon by the G7 countries.
“We will be discussing with the Israelis what they are going to do,” Biden told reporters before traveling to the Carolinas to see the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. “All seven of us agree that they have the right to respond.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said in a statement that leaders expressed “strong concern about the escalation in recent hours” and stressed that “a conflict on a regional scale is not in anyone’s interest.” Italy holds the rotating presidency of the G7 group of industrialized democracies.
Biden said he plans to talk to Netanyahu “relatively soon.”
The Biden administration has signaled it is calling on Israel to show restraint in its response to the Iranian missile attack, which Biden said was “ineffective and defeated.”
The US military helped Israel defend itself against an attack launched by Iran in retaliation for the killing of Tehran-backed leaders of Lebanese Hezbollah.
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said “there has to be a message back” to Iran. He said U.S. and Israeli officials were still discussing their response.
“At the same time, I think that as important as any response should be, there is an awareness that the region is really teetering on a knife’s edge,” Campbell said at a forum organized by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his counterparts in Britain, France, Germany and Italy on Wednesday to discuss the situation in the Middle East.