President Joe Biden praised the American forces that helped Israel intercept Iranian drones in a statement issued Sunday.
"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," Biden's statement noted.
"Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles," he added.
Biden, however, has emphasized to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. will not participate in any offensive action against Iran, American officials told CNN.
Iran launched dozens of drones at Israel overnight in retaliation for airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Syria. Iran blamed Israel for the attack and promised retribution for "the Zionist regime's crime."
Iran and Israel have long been at odds, and tensions have been inflamed by the ongoing war and humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip. Iran praised Hamas in the aftermath of last year's deadly October 7 attacks on Israel, which it claimed were "victories of the anti-Zionist resistance."
Iran has also provided aid to the Houthis — a Yemeni rebel group that fired ballistic missiles at the Israeli coast. The nation is also allied with Syria — an important source of weapons for Hamas fighters. Israel claimed that the strike on Iran's Syrian embassy was necessary to take out an Iranian general who is crucial to the weapons supply chain.
In his statement on Sunday Biden condemned Iran's retaliatory attacks "in the strongest possible terms."
He said on Monday he'll "convene my fellow G7 leaders to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran's brazen attack."
While "we have not seen attacks on our forces or facilities today, we will remain vigilant to all threats and will not hesitate to take all necessary action to protect our people," Biden noted.
The president reiterated the U.S.'s support of Israel and confirmed that he had spoken to Netanyahu by phone.
Tensions between the two leaders have been exacerbated in recent weeks, in part due to the killings of seven aid workers — including one American citizen — who were distributing food inside Gaza.
"I told [Netanyahu] that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks," Biden wrote. "Sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel."
