Biden urges against attack on Iran nuclear sites as Israel considers retaliation

Remains of a ballistic missile lying in the desert, near Israel’s southern city of Arad on Wednesday following an attack from Iran.
Remains of a ballistic missile lying in the desert, near Israel’s southern city of Arad on Wednesday following an attack from Iran.

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said Israel should not strike Iranian nuclear sites in a retaliation for a missile attack the previous day, saying a response must be proportional.

Asked by reporters if the Jewish state should hit at the disputed nuclear program after Iran's greatest-ever attack on its soil, Biden said, "no".

An international consensus among world powers in the G7 group was that retaliation was warranted but should be limited, he added.

“All seven of us agree that they have a right to respond, but they have to respond proportionally."

Iran launched around 180 missiles at Israel on Wednesday, the Israeli military said. The attack was largely repulsed with US and Western help but several missiles hit their mark, including an Israeli air base.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told an emergency Security Council meeting on Wednesday that an Israeli riposte was inevitable.

"Let me be clear, Israel will defend itself. We will act," he said. "And let me assure you, the consequences Iran will face for their actions will be far greater than they could ever have imagined."

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps said the attack was in response to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, warning Israel that it will strike again if there was an Israeli response.

Israel was aided in fending off a previous one-off missile fusillade from Iran in April by the United States, Western and Arab partners, after which Washington urged Israel to hold off on a counterattack.

But the US government is not trying to dissuade Israel from hitting back this time, CNN said citing two senior US officials.

"No one’s saying don’t respond. No one’s saying ‘take the win'," one source said, referring to Washington's argument to Israel in April.

Israeli rescue force members inspect the site where a missile fired from Iran towards Israel hit a school building, in central Israel, October 1, 2024
Israeli rescue force members inspect the site where a missile fired from Iran towards Israel hit a school building, in central Israel, October 1, 2024

War or Peace

Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian accused Israel of forcing his country to react, saying that Tehran “is not looking for war but looking forward to peace”.

"We were asked to maintain calm. For the sake of peace, we have maintained self-restraint,” he said at a joint press conference with the Emir of Qatar in Doha. “If [Israel] acts, we will react more fiercely and harshly."

Israel declared Secretary-General Antonio Guterres persona non grata for what it said was insufficient rejection of Iran's attack.

Speaking at the Security Council later in the day, Guterres condemned the Iranian barrage on Israel the previous day, adding that the “deadly cycle of tit-for-tat violence must stop.”

“Time is running out,” he warned.

Meanwhile Israel announced the deaths in combat of eight Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, days after it launched an invasion of the country it said aimed at stopping rocket fire on its border communities by Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.

Israel has landed devastating blows against Hezbollah, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah in an aerial bombardment on Beirut on Friday along with much of its top leadership.

The attacks have killed up to a 1,000 people including many civilians while displacing nearly a million people.

A top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an explosion Tehran in July in an assassination widely blamed on Israel, raising Iran's ire but not immediately drawing any response at that time.