“Nothing will happen today,” Biden says of Israeli attack on Iran | Israel attacks Lebanon news

Biden said Israel's response to Iran would not come Thursday, but U.S. officials declined to provide further details.

U.S. officials said they had “a series of discussions” with their Israeli counterparts after the Iranian missile attack on Tuesday, but declined to say when or how Israel planned to respond and whether the U.S. had drawn any red lines.

President Joe Biden told reporters he did not believe there would be a widely expected Israeli strike against Iran on Thursday.

“First, we don't 'allow' Israel, we advise Israel,” Biden told reporters at the White House on Thursday when asked whether he would allow Israel to retaliate against Iran. “And nothing will happen today.”

At a news conference, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller declined to elaborate on Israel's plans toward Iran or Lebanon, where Israeli forces continue to bomb civilian areas and where Israeli soldiers are invading Lebanese territory for the second time face to face with Hezbollah.

“We are having ongoing conversations with them about the options they are considering, but I will keep everything about those conversations private,” Miller said.

Pressed on the possibility that Israel could attack nuclear facilities in Iran, Miller reiterated the president's position. “We don’t believe they should attack nuclear facilities,” he said, but declined to say whether the U.S. was using its influence to avoid that possibility.

The Biden administration has publicly stated that it wants to prevent an escalation of conflict in the region – but with a month left until the US presidential election, it is also wary of using too heavy a hand.

US officials are reportedly working behind closed doors to “limit” Israel's response, with members of the administration calling for additional sanctions against Iran, while Republican members of the US Congress are seeking a “tougher” government response to Iran, said he Kimberly Halkett of Al Jazeera.

Iran said it exercised restraint earlier this year after Israel assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in response to requests not to impede Gaza ceasefire talks. Iranian officials have since made clear that they feel “betrayed” by the international community and that their patience is running out.

Israel has continued its war against Gaza and has now killed more than 41,700 Palestinians there. It has also spread the conflict to Lebanon, where more than 1,900 people have been killed, including Hezbollah leader and close Iran ally Hassan Nasrallah.

On Thursday, Iran warned the US through an intermediary that an Israeli attack against Iran would provoke an “unconventional response.”

“From the very first days when these tensions began, Iran took the stance that there was no interest at all in dragging the whole of West Asia into a full-blown war scenario,” Iranian analyst Tohid Asadi told Al Jazeera on Thursday. Nevertheless, he warned that Iran was now sending a double message.

“On the one hand, they claim that they are not interested in war, they are not warmongers, and at the same time they say, 'We are not afraid of war,'” Asadi said. “The clear message from Tehran today is that there will be no more patience, because this patience has a limit.”

U.S. officials' vagueness on the matter is unlikely to allay growing fears of a broader regional conflict.

“The US is now the adult in the room. They can help de-escalate this conflict, as they once did in April when Iran and Israel engaged in a cursed episode,” Iranian-American political scientist Negar Mortazavi wrote on X. “Or they can allow this to escalate into an even bigger war. This is an important crossroads.”

“All eyes are on the White House as Iran waits for a response from Israel,” she added. “How hard Israel will attack Iran depends on Washington.”