Washington
CNN
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Israel has not assured the Biden administration that targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities in response to Iranian ballistic missile attacks earlier this week is off the table, a top US State Department official told CNN on Friday.
The official added that it is “very difficult to say” whether Israel will use the anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attacks to retaliate.
Asked by CNN if Israel had assured the US that Iran’s nuclear facilities were off the table, the official said, “We’re hoping for some wisdom and strength, but you know, there’s no guarantee.”
US officials have voiced support for Israel’s response to Iran’s missile attack earlier this week, with several officials publicly saying there should be consequences. At the same time, officials worry about a regional conflict as they grapple with an increasingly volatile Middle East.
President Joe Biden said earlier this week that the United States will not support Israel targeting Iran’s nuclear program.
“If I were in their shoes, I would be thinking about alternatives other than hitting the oil fields,” Biden said at a press conference on Friday.
US officials are also unclear when Israel’s response will be decided or enacted. The president said on Friday that Israel was “not going to make a decision right away.”
Asked by CNN whether Israel would use the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack to retaliate against Iran, a senior State Department official said, “It’s really hard to say.”
“I think in some ways they want to avoid the seventh, so if anything in my estimation it’s probably before and after,” the official said, pointing to the day’s sanctity and the Israeli response. What a day it was.
The U.S. has been working for nearly a year to prevent the conflict from escalating into a full-scale war — and so far, the official said. Now, “it’s on edge,” the official added.
Biden said Friday that U.S. officials are in contact with their Israeli counterparts “12 hours a day.”
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Wednesday that “there’s been a great deal of effort on both sides to keep the lines of communication open and to make sure perspectives are understood.”
“There have been surprising moments, I don’t think it’s a secret, in the last couple of months,” he admitted.
“When it comes to an Iranian attack on Israel, it’s not just Israel that’s thinking about its response options; it’s the United States,” Campbell said at an event at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“Our dominant message is, ‘We will be very careful in whatever we do with Iran,'” Campbell said.
This story has been updated with additional updates.
CNN’s Nikki Carvajal contributed to this report.
