Just as a top Israeli official ominously vowed that Israel would "exact a price" for Iran's weekend air assault, President Biden doesn't "believe" the conflict "needs" to escalate into a wider war, said an aide.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby outlined Biden's position in a Sunday appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Biden "doesn't believe that it needs to move in that direction whatsoever," Kirby told host Kristen Welker.
"The president's been clear: We don't want to see this escalate. We're not looking for a wider war with Iran," said Kirby, addding: "I think the coming hours and days will tell us a lot."
NEW: Fears of escalation in the Middle East grow after Iran’s retaliatory attack on Israel.
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NSC spox John Kirby: “The president’s been clear: We don’t want to see this escalate. We’re not looking for a wider war with Iran. I think the coming hours and days will tell us a lot.” pic.twitter.com/9Q9rpF5RRQ
The U.S. helped Israel as it intercepted almost all of the 300 drones and missile launched by Iran.
But Biden emphasized to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call that the U.S. will not participate in any offensive action against Iran, American officials told CNN.
Kirby, however, refused when pressed to "get into hypotheticals" about whether the U.S. would, at some point, back an Israeli counterattack against Iran.
"Israel hasn't made any decisions that I'm aware of about what the next step is," he said.
Pressed again about whether the Biden administration has a "red line" for getting directly involved in a conflict against Iran, Kirby again refused to provide an answer.
While Israel has revealed no details of a possible response to the air barrage, Israeli War Cabinet member Benny Gantz vowed in a videotaped statement on Sunday to "exact a price" from Iran in response to its attack.
"In the face of the Iranian threat, we will build a regional coalition, and we will exact a price from Iran in the way and at the time that is right for us," Gantz said.
While Biden is opposed to an escalation of the Mideast conflict, he has reiterated his strong support for Israel — and praised the U.S. forces who helped Israel intercept Iran's aerial barrage.
"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 said in a statement Sunday.
"Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our service members, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles," he added.
Kirby called the response an "incredible military achievement by Israel" and "quite frankly [by] the United States and other partners that helped Israel defend itself ... I mean, it's just an extraordinary example of military superiority."
