President Biden stated on Wednesday that he does not support Israel’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. On Tuesday, Iran launched 180 missiles at Israel in retaliation for recent Israeli strikes in Lebanon that killed a key Tehran proxy – the top leader of the militant group Hezbollah. The attack appeared to have ended within an hour of its start.
During a meeting with the Group of Seven (G7), Biden said, “We all agree that they (Israel) have the right to respond, but the response should be proportionate.” Biden also mentioned that his government had communicated with Israeli officials after the Iranian missile strikes.
Currently, the Biden administration is trying to persuade its allies not to react aggressively to Iran’s earlier missile attacks. President Biden proposed on Wednesday that Israel should not attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, as his government is striving to prevent a larger-scale war in the Middle East.
Former President Trump criticized President Biden for opposing Israel’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, calling his remarks “not the right answer.”
In an interview with Fox News reporter Bill Melugin before a rally in Saginaw, Michigan, on Thursday, Trump rebutted Biden’s statement, saying, “This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard, the biggest risk we have is nuclear risk.”
He continued, “To say ‘don’t worry about their (Iran) nuclear problem,’ let me tell you, that’s not the right answer, that’s the craziest answer, you know? They (Iran) will have nuclear weapons soon, and then you’ll have a problem.”
He had previously criticized Biden and Vice President Harris – now Trump’s electoral opponent – and implied that if he were the Commander-in-Chief, the Iranian missile attack incident would not have occurred. He warned that if Harris wins in November, the situation would lead to “the world going up in smoke.”
He stated, “I’ve been talking about World War III for a long time, I don’t like making predictions because predictions always come true. But the current situation is very close to a global disaster, we have a nonexistent president and a nonexistent vice president, they should be responsible, but no one knows what they are doing, she was fundraising in San Francisco at the time.”
The topic of whether Israel should attack Iran’s nuclear facilities has sparked heated debates in Washington. While the White House believes Israel’s retaliatory measures can go further than its response to Iran’s missile attack in April, hawks in the Republican Party argue that targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities is justified.
Republican lawmakers, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, criticized the Biden administration for attempting to restrain Israel. Scalise said on Fox News on Thursday, “Let them defend themselves! Israel has the right to defend itself, to strike any target, including nuclear facilities.”
Graham issued a statement criticizing Biden’s “misjudgment” of Iran and its intentions. The senator posted on Twitter on Thursday, “The Iranian regime is not building peaceful nuclear power plants but is trying to manufacture nuclear weapons to achieve its religious goals; limiting Israel’s targeting of certain targets is ignoring reality.”
Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska also stated on Wednesday that Biden has no right to tell Israel how to defend itself. He attributed the recent escalation in tensions in the Middle East to the president’s “weakness” towards Iran.
Other Republicans, like House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul of Texas, called on Biden to “put maximum pressure on Iran and its proxies.”
It is expected that Israel’s response to the recent attack will be more severe than its reaction to the airstrike near Isfahan in April. In April, Israel struck air defense facilities near Isfahan.
However, the Biden administration is concerned that Israel’s retaliatory action against Iran’s nuclear facilities could further escalate the conflict in the region and potentially involve U.S. military.
Michael Hanna, Director of the U.S. Program at the International Crisis Group, said, “I think a comprehensive regional war breaking out a month before the election is not the situation the Biden administration wants to see, which is why they are trying to avoid the most severe potential response.”
Hanna analyzed that Israel’s attack is unlikely to completely destroy Iran’s extensive nuclear facilities, but may ultimately make Tehran more determined to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran’s research, testing, and production of nuclear weapons are primarily carried out at the Parchin military base, with reactor research in Tehran, Bonab, and Ramsar, and several key facilities in Bushehr, Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz.
He explained, “The nuclear program is very complex, involving a wide range, and any strike must have excellent intelligence capability and no margin for error. Even so, I think, given how advanced the program already is, instead of shutting it down, it would be better to delay it for a few months or even a few years… by such action, changing Iran’s weaponization plans, which they have not fully committed to yet.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has stated that Iran is enriching uranium to levels above 20% (civilian nuclear power plants typically only enrich to 3%) and aims to reach the 90% weapons-grade level required for producing nuclear weapons.
In July of this year, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that Iran was at least a year away from obtaining the capabilities to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons but could achieve the so-called “breakout” in as little as “one to two weeks right now.”
Alex Vatanka, Director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, told the Congressional Hill that while the U.S. is concerned about Iran’s activities, it has never taken military action against its nuclear facilities, indicating discomfort with the consequences of such actions.
Vatanka further said, “There is a reason why the U.S. has not acted, if there was a quick military solution to the Iranian nuclear program, it would have been resolved long ago. The reason why there has been no action is because this is not something that can be accomplished in a single strike or in a day.”
He pointed out that the dispersed nature of Iran’s nuclear program means that Israel may not be able to attack these facilities alone and would require Washington’s assistance, “they will need ammunition that only the U.S. possesses.”
An attack on Iran’s oil facilities seems to be a preferable outcome for the Biden administration. Biden stated on Thursday that the possibility of supporting Israel’s strike on Iran’s oil reserves still exists, and the two allies are “discussing the matter,” but “nothing will happen today, we will talk later.”
Furthermore, the U.S. is considering imposing more economic measures on Iran, which has already faced severe sanctions, but Biden refused to discuss this on Thursday.
Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed on Thursday that discussions with Israel on their response measures are ongoing.
She told reporters, “These conversations won’t be wrapped up in 15 minutes, they will take time.” She added that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had been speaking with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant “almost every day over the past two weeks.”
When asked if Austin supported strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities or oil fields, Singh said she would not speculate on the actions Israel might take.
On September 23, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi posted on Telegram a video statement indicating that Iran would be willing to engage in nuclear negotiations during the United Nations General Assembly in New York “if other parties are willing.”
In 2018, under then-President Donald Trump’s leadership, the U.S. withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement signed between Iran and six world powers. According to the agreement, Tehran was allowed to decrease its uranium stockpile and restrict the use of centrifuges for enrichment in exchange for Western sanctions relief and aid. Trump argued that the Iranian regime was a major state sponsor of terrorism, exporting dangerous missiles and fueling conflicts across the Middle East, supporting terrorist organizations. He denounced the agreement as a “terroristic unilateral agreement,” where unfreezing billions of dollars in funds turned Iran into a military agent in the region, which would never bring peace.
The indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran for restoring the agreement have stalled. While Iran remains technically part of the agreement, its compliance has been reduced due to the U.S. reimposing sanctions on Iran.
(Reference from The Congressional Hill)