US won’t seek war with Iran after strikes on Israel, White House says

The United States condemned the overnight attacks against Israel by Iran and Tehran’s allied proxy groups across the Middle East overnight Saturday into Sunday morning, but stated firmly that the Biden administration remains committed to avoiding a regional war.

Nearly 300 drones and missiles were reported over the skies of Israel Saturday evening as Iran and its allies launched what has been reported to be the largest single drone attack in history. Israeli air defences intercepted the vast majority of the incoming fire, according to initial reports, and no deaths have been reported.

President Joe Biden released a statement shortly before 11pm local time, calling the drone strikes that were largely intercepted by Israeli air defences a “brazen attack” against a US ally. He added that he had reaffirmed his support for Israel’s defence in a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“At my direction, to support the defense of Israel, the U.S. military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week. Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles,” said the president.

He added that he told Mr Netanyahu “that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks – sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel”.

As Washington woke up to the news, however, the White House clarified the president’s words to underscore that the US would not be drawn into direct conflict with Iran. John Kirby, spokesman for the national security council, told NBC’s Meet The Press that the