National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sunday that President Joe Biden “does not believe” that Iran’s overnight attacks on Israel should escalate into a wider war in the Middle East.
“The president doesn’t believe he should be moving in any way,” Kirby said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
His comments came hours later Iran attacked Israel With more than 300 missiles and drones. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement on Saturday evening that the United States is helping to defend Israel against attack and that only a few of the ballistic missiles fired from Iran have landed on Israeli territory.
The spokesman said that most of the cruise missiles launched by Iran were intercepted by Israeli fighters. It was the first time that Iran launched a direct military attack against Israel.
Kirby also declined to “speculate” on whether the United States would support an Israeli counterattack against Iran.
Kirby told moderator Kristen Welker, “Israel has not made any decisions that I know of on what the next step is.
Asked whether the Biden administration had a “red line” for direct involvement in the conflict against Iran, Kirby declined to identify one, saying: “I mean, we could sit here all day and talk about what is and what is not.” t red line. I’m not going to do that.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, criticized Kirby’s comments, saying “There should be a red line.”
“I think John Kirby expressed very well the misfortunes, I think the mistakes, in the policies of the Biden administration,” said Turner Welkere, adding: “Unfortunately, the Biden administration thinks that if you use missile defense, an attack won’t happen. It won’t happen.”
“You just heard John Kirby say that the defense was successful, and then he seemed to deny that Iran had directly attacked Israel,” Turner added.
He urged the Biden administration to “take seriously that this attack happened.” This is an unprecedented event, and of course it should be seen as an escalation.”
However, Turner agreed: “I don’t think the United States should take direct military action against Iran at this time.”
Both Turner and Kirby applauded the joint efforts of Israel and the United States to use missile defense systems to defend against almost all incoming Iranian attacks.
Kirby said the effort was an “incredible military achievement by Israel” and that “frankly, the United States and other partners have helped Israel defend itself against more than 300 drones and missiles.” I mean, it’s just an extraordinary example of military superiority.”
Turner added: “The US and Israel jointly developed missile defense technology, which went live last night and has proven to be successful.