by Parisa Hafezi, James Mackenzie and Jeff Mason
JERUSALEM/DUBAI (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington would not participate in a possible retaliation against Iran, a White House official said on Sunday.
The threat of open conflict between the two enemies of the Middle East, likely to drag the United States in its wake, has further increased regional tension.
The United States will continue to help Israel defend itself, but does not want war, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told ABC.
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US media reported earlier that Joe Biden had informed Benjamin Netanyahu that he would not participate in retaliatory action during an overnight phone call. These comments were confirmed to Reuters by a White House official.
Tehran also warned Israel and the United States against a large-scale response in the event of a response to its drone and missile attack launched the previous night against Israeli territory.
Iran attacked in response to a suspected deadly Israeli strike on April 1 against its consulate in Syria, amid clashes between Israel and Iran’s regional allies amid the war in Gaza.
According to the Israeli army, 99% of the approximately 300 projectiles launched Saturday evening were brought down with the help of the United States, Great Britain and Jordan.
An air force base in southern Israel was hit, but was unable to operate, and a seven-year-old child was seriously injured by shrapnel. No other serious damage was reported.
Two Israeli ministers indicated on Sunday that retaliation was not imminent and that the country would not act alone.
“We will build a regional coalition and make Iran pay the price in a way and 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 from Iran, which risks installing nuclear explosives on missiles.” Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.
Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian said Tehran had informed the United States that its attack on Israel would be “limited.”
“We intercepted, we pushed back, together we will win,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on social media before a midday war cabinet meeting.
A Turkish diplomatic source claimed that Iran had informed Turkey in advance of the upcoming attack.
Powers like Russia, China, France and many Arab states like Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have called for restraint.
“France is working on de-escalation with its partners and calls for restraint,” wrote French President Emmanuel Macron in a message on the X network.
The Islamic Republic’s mission to the United Nations said it was to punish “Israeli crimes” and that Iran “now considers the matter closed.”
But the chief of staff of the Iranian army, General Mohammad Bagheri, issued a warning on television. “Our response will be much more important than tonight’s military action if Israel retaliates against Iran,” he warned, threatening American bases if Washington helped Israel retaliate.
MEETING OF G7 COUNTRIES
US President Joe Biden reaffirmed his support for Israel without announcing retaliation against Iran, pending a videoconference meeting of the leaders of the G7 countries scheduled for Sunday afternoon, European time.
The UN Security Council was due to meet at the end of the day in New York.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has proposed holding an extraordinary meeting of EU foreign ministers on Tuesday.
Analysts were wondering Sunday whether the Iranian attack was aimed at causing damage in Israel or rather to save face without provoking a major conflict.
“I think the Iranians took into consideration the fact that Israel has a very, very powerful multi-layered anti-missile system and they probably took into consideration the fact that there would not be too many casualties,” he said. Sima Shine, a former senior Mossad official at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Saturday seized an Israel-linked cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important trade routes, illustrating the risks of a broader conflict for the global economy.
Air travel was disrupted in countries in the region and stock prices fell on the stock markets in Israel and the Gulf states.
The war in Gaza, launched by Israel after a Tehran-backed Hamas attack on October 7, has spread via organizations loyal to Iran in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
Iran’s most powerful ally in the region, the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah fired rockets at an Israeli base overnight. Israel said it struck a Hezbollah site in Lebanon on Sunday morning.
The October 7 attack which left 1,200 dead and 253 hostages on the Israeli side, internal mistrust of the government and international pressure in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza will weigh on Benjamin Netanyahu’s decisions regarding to the response to the Iranian attack.
The Israeli prime minister has for years advocated a hard line against Iran, pushing the United States to raise its voice on Tehran’s nuclear program and its support for Hezbollah, Hamas and other groups in the region.
On Sunday in Jerusalem, Israelis recounted their nighttime fears, the sound of sirens and explosions, but opinions differed on the response to give to this unprecedented episode.
“I think we’ve been given authorization to respond now. I mean, it was a major attack by Iran,” said Jeremy Smith, 60.
In Iran, state television showed footage of small gatherings in several cities celebrating the attack, but privately some Iranians worried about a possible Israeli response.
In Gaza, devastated by six months of a war which left 33,729 dead according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, many Palestinians approved of the Iranian attack.
“We were massacred for more than six months and no one dared to do anything. Now Iran, after its consulate was hit, is retaliating,” said Majed Abu Hamza, 52, of the Gaza City.
(Reporting by James MacKenzie in Jerusalem, Parisa Hafezi in Dubai, Jeff Mason in Washington, Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Maayan Lubell, written by Michael Georgy and Angus McDowall; French version Elizabeth Pineau and Kate Entringer)
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