Israel has not given assurances to the Biden administration that targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities is off the table in retaliation for the Iranian ballistic missile strikes earlier this week, a top US State Department official told CNN on Friday.
The official added that it is “really hard to tell” if Israel will use the anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attacks to retaliate.
“We hope and expect to see some wisdom as well as strength, but as you guys know, no guarantees,” the official said when asked by CNN if Israel has assured the US that Iran’s nuclear sites are off the table.
US officials have voiced support for Israel responding to Iran’s missile attack earlier this week, with multiple officials publicly saying there must be consequences. At the same time, officials have also voiced concerns about a regional conflagration as they grapple with an increasingly volatile Middle East.
President Joe Biden said earlier this week the US would not support Israel targeting Iran’s nuclear program.
“If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields,” Biden said at a press briefing Friday.
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US officials also do not yet have clarity as to when Israel’s response will be decided upon, or enacted. The president said Friday that Israel was “not going to make a decision immediately.”
The senior State Department official, asked by CNN whether Israel would use the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack to retaliate against Iran, said, “It is really hard to tell.”
“I think in some ways they would want to avoid the seventh, so in my estimation if there is anything it would likely be before or after,” the official said, pointing to the solemnity of that day and any Israeli retaliation potentially taking away from what that day was all about.
The US has been working for almost a year to prevent the conflict from turning into a bigger war – and has so far done so, the official said. Right now, “this is on the edge,” the official added.
Biden said Friday that US officials are in touch with their Israeli counterparts “12 hours a day.”
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Wednesday that there are “major efforts on both sides to keep lines of communication open and to make sure that perspectives are understood.”
“There have been moments of surprise, I don’t think that’s a secret, over the course the last couple of months,” he acknowledged.
“With respect to the Iranian attack on Israel, it is not just Israel that is thinking about its response options; it is also the United States,” Campbell said at an event at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“Our dominant message is, ‘let’s take great care in whatever we do with respect to Iran,’” Campbell said.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Nikki Carvajal contributed to this report.
