The G7 meeting, Biden said, was aimed at coordinating a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
President Joe Biden convened the Group of Seven advanced democracies on Sunday to coordinate a rebuke of Iran over its unprecedented and largely failed airstrike on Israel and prevent a broader regional escalation.
Following their videoconference, the leaders issued a joint statement unequivocally condemning Iran’s direct attack in the strongest terms, while expressing our full solidarity and support for Israel and reaffirming our commitment to its security.
The G7, made up of the US, Italy, Japan, Germany, France, Britain and Canada, also said that Iran’s actions have taken further steps towards the destabilization of the region and risk uncontrollable regional escalation to provoke.
They said their countries stand ready to take further measures now and in response to further destabilizing initiatives.
The United States has helped Israel shoot down dozens of drones and missiles fired by Tehran. This was the first time Iran launched a direct military attack on Israel. Israeli authorities said 99 percent of the incoming weapons were shot down without causing significant damage.
At my direction, to support Israel’s defense, the U.S. military has moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers into the region over the course of the past week, Biden said in a statement late Saturday. Thanks to this commitment and the extraordinary skills of our military, we have helped Israel shoot down almost all incoming drones and missiles.
Biden, in a phone call that evening with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, insisted that Israel claim victory because of its defensive prowess, as the president sought to deter America’s closest ally in the Middle East from a larger retaliatory strike against Iran.
Biden told Netanyahu that the US would not participate in any offensive action against Iran, according to a senior administration official. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss the private conversation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
I told him that Israel has demonstrated a remarkable ability to defend and defeat even unprecedented attacks – sending a clear message to its enemies that they cannot effectively threaten Israel’s security, Biden said in his statement.
Biden had a telephone conversation with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Sunday in which the king said that any escalating measures by Israel would lead to a wider conflict in the region, the Royal Court said. There was no immediate summary of the call from the White House.
The G7 meeting, Biden said, was aimed at coordinating a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack.
The effort to encourage Israel to show restraint reflected ongoing U.S. efforts to contain Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, now in its seventh month, and to do more to protect the lives of civilians in the area.
The US and Israel had been bracing for an attack for days after Iran said it would retaliate for a suspected Israeli attack this month on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed 12 people, including two senior Iranian generals in the elite Quds Force Force of the Revolutionary Guard.
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, criticized the White House for leaking to the press that Biden had told Netanyahu to take victory and not retaliate.
Rubio told CNN’s State of the Union that this was part of the White House’s efforts to appease people calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: April 14, 2024 | 11:53 PM IST