Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) agrees that the US should not yet become involved in a conflict with Iran after it launched hundreds of missiles toward Israel since Saturday.
However, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee warned President Joe Biden against waiting too long to “show up” in the region as it could lead to a wider conflict.
He told NBC News host Kristen Welker on Sunday that the Biden administration must make it clearer to Iran that there will be serious consequences for the US if it continues to launch attacks on Israel.
So far, Biden and his national security and defense officials have expressed repeated “ironclad” support for defending Israel from attack. But the government has distanced itself from involvement in any Israeli counterattacks on Iran.
“I don’t think the United States should be directly involved in military action against Iran at this point,” Rep. Turner said in his Meet the Press interview.
House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner said Sunday that he agrees that the US should not yet become involved in military action against Iran after the attacks on Israel this weekend.
Iran and other Middle Eastern allies have launched at least 200 missile and drone strikes toward Israel since Saturday — most of which were intercepted before reaching Israeli airspace
Every day that the Biden administration does not inform Iran of the consequences of their attacks on Israel, it becomes more dangerous for American troops and facilities in the Middle East, Turner said.
However, John Kirby, President Biden’s national security spokesman, previously said in a Meet the Press interview on Sunday that the US has communicated to Iran “what we would do” if US forces or facilities are targeted.
He reiterated that the US has no plans to engage in counter-attacks against Iran on behalf of ally Israel – but will continue to help defend the Jewish nation.
Amid Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas terrorists in Gaza, some Republican lawmakers are unhappy with the Biden administration’s response so far to the escalating conflict and want an immediate response to last night’s attacks by Iran and its allies.
‘The president has made it clear: we are not seeking a war with Iran. We are not seeking a broader war in the region,” Kirby told Welker on Sunday morning.
“We remain vigilant for exactly that potential threat, but we have not seen any attacks on U.S. troops or personnel in the region or our facilities and there is nothing to report this morning,” he said. “But we will of course keep a very, very close eye on that.”
NSC spokesman John Kirby said on Sunday that the US has warned Iran of “what we would do” if US forces are targeted in the Middle East, amid an escalating conflict in the region.
“I would just like to say that we have made it very clear to all parties, including Iran, what we would do and how we would continue to defend Israel, as well as how seriously we would take any potential threat to our personnel and facilities in the region . the NSC spokesperson added.
Turner said Sunday: “I really believe that if this administration fails to act and understand that we have an escalating conflict — and make it clear to Iran that there are red lines and that the United States will defend Israel and not allow it to that Iran becomes a weapons state – that we end up in a wider conflict and that we have fewer options.’
“Their inability to stand up to Iran and make them understand that there will be consequences makes it more dangerous every day,” the intelligence committee chairman said.
Iran has launched more than 200 drones and missiles at Israel since Saturday evening, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) said.
The vast majority of attacks were intercepted outside Israeli airspace. But a small number of dozens of Iranian surface-to-surface missiles struck the country, wounding a girl and causing damage to a military installation in the south, Armed Forces spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said early Sunday.
Turner warned President Joe Biden that “if this administration fails to act and understand that we have an escalating conflict… we will find ourselves in a broader conflict and we will have fewer options.” Pictured: Biden returns to the White House on Saturday afternoon amid an escalating conflict in the Middle East
President Joe Biden met with his National Security team in the White House Situation Room on Saturday after returning early from his weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
Iran said the strikes were in response to a drone strike in early April in Syria that killed 12 Iranians, including two top generals.
Biden and his Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin have repeatedly said the US will continue to help Israel defend itself against Iranian attacks, but have said Washington will not get involved in counterattacks.
It comes after Iran warned last week that if the US carries out attacks, its forces will target US personnel and facilities in the region.
Biden had to cut short his beach weekend at his vacation home in Rehoboth, Delaware, to deal with the growing conflict.
The president arrived at the beach on Friday, but returned to Washington DC just 21 hours later to meet with his national security and defense teams.