Biden on Israel’s retaliatory strike against Iran: ‘I hope this is the end’

The Biden administration attempted to pressure Israel not to attack Iran’s nuclear sites.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

On the news that Israel launched a retaliatory strike on Iran Saturday, U.S. President Joe Biden expressed relief that the targets were military sites and hope that “this is the end.”

“It looks like they didn’t hit anything other than military targets. My hope is this is the end,” he says.

Iranian media reported that four soldiers were killed.

Two Iranian officials, one a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC), reported that Israel struck the S-300 air defense of Imam Khomeini International Airport that provides defense for areas in Tehran.

In addition, at least three IRGC missile bases were hit, and Israeli drones targeted the secretive Parchin military base on the outskirts of Tehran, with one drone hitting the base and the others intercepted.

Israel has insisted that nuclear activities are being carried out at Parchin, and the U.N.’s IAEA nuclear watchdog in 2016 reportedly found evidence confirming this suspicion.

In early October, The Biden administration reassured the Iranian government that the U.S. would not target Iran’s nuclear facilities nor aid Israel in striking them in reprisal for the October 1st ballistic missile attacks.

On October 1st, Iran launched roughly 200 ballistic missiles toward Israel, the second large-scale direct attack by Iran on the Jewish state, following a combination of ballistic missile and drone attacks in April.

The Biden administration attempted to pressure Israel not to attack Iran’s nuclear sites.

France 24 reported that the U.S. promised Iran that it would not enable or aid any Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program.

The Wall Street Journal reported that President Joe Biden was angered by Israel’s refusal to share its plans for a retaliatory strike on Iran.

For its part, Israel reportedly refused Biden’s demand to take strikes on Iran’s nuclear program off the table.

Last week, the U.S. investigated a report that U.S. officials leaked classified information on Israel’s planned retaliatory attack against Iran.

“The FBI is investigating the alleged leak of classified documents and working closely with our partners in the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community,” the FBI said in a statement.