Biden WH promises ‘serious consequences’ for Iran while promoting ‘diplomatic solution’

After Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, senior Biden administration officials issued mixed messages about whether the United States would support a counterattack against Iran.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan took a tough stance, praising cooperation between the United States and Israel in neutralizing the attack and promising that Iran would face “serious consequences” for its missile attack ballistic attacks against Israel the day before the start of Rosh Hashanah.

“We have made it clear that this attack will have consequences, serious consequences, and we will work with Israel to make sure that is the case,” Sullivan said from the White House podium in the afternoon.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller echoed Sullivan’s position.

“Of course, this attack must have consequences for Iran. We have made it clear that there must be consequences. I’m not going to address today what those consequences are,” he said during a press briefing Tuesday.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who spent the afternoon in the Situation Room monitoring the attack, did not say what kind of response the Iranians should expect.

Biden ordered the U.S. military to work with the Israel Defense Forces to shoot down Iranian missiles, making the attack “futile and ineffective,” he said. “Make no mistake, the United States fully supports Israel. Asked what he thinks the consequences for Iran should be, Biden said that “remains to be seen.”

Later in the day, Harris delivered brief remarks about the Iranian attack.

“I unequivocally condemn this attack. I am clear: Iran is a destabilizing and dangerous force in the Middle East and today’s attack on Israel only further demonstrates that attack,” Harris said. Like Biden, Harris avoided describing what a U.S. response should look like.

“We will continue to work with our allies and partners to counter Iran’s aggressive behavior and hold it accountable,” Harris said.

In the evening, however, a statement issued by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on X offered a more muted view expressing a desire for diplomacy. His message made no mention of any U.S. or Israeli response to the Iranian attack.

“The United States remains committed to promoting a diplomatic solution, avoiding further expansion of the conflict, and protecting our personnel and installations in the region,” Austin wrote after a phone call with the French defense minister. Earlier in the day, before the Iranian attack, Austin also warned of “serious consequences.”

Before the Iranian attack, the White House had announced the need for calm in the Middle East. On Monday, shortly after Israeli plans to mount a limited ground invasion of Lebanon were made public, Biden was asked if he was aware of Israel’s plans to enter Lebanon. “I’m more aware than you think and I’m comfortable with them stopping. We should have a ceasefire now,” Biden said.

Last week, the United States joined its European and Arab allies in laying out a plan for a three-week ceasefire on Israel’s northern border in an effort to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah by a diplomatic solution.

But the Iranian attack, seen as a response to Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last week and the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, may have changed the calculus – for the moment – ​​on Washington’s approach to the growing conflict in the Middle East. East.