Biden says US helped Israel down ‘nearly all’ Iran drones, missiles

A panoramic view of Jerusalem’s Old City is pictured at dawn of April 14, 2024, after Iran launched a drone and missile attack on Israel. Iran launched more than 200 drones and missiles on Israel in an unprecedented attack late April 13, 2024, the Israeli army announced, in a major escalation of the long-running covert war between the regional foes. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP)

United States (US) President Joe Biden said Saturday that US forces helped take down “nearly all” the drones and missiles fired by Iran at Israel, adding that he had reaffirmed his “ironclad” support to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Biden added in a statement that he would convene his fellow leaders of the G7 group of wealthy nations on Sunday to coordinate a “united diplomatic response” to Iran’s “brazen” attack.

“Iran — and its proxies operating out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq — launched an unprecedented air attack against military facilities in Israel. I condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms,” Biden said.

He said he had ordered US military aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the Middle East in recent days as the likely Iranian threat to the key US ally became clear.

“Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our service members, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles,” Biden said.

Biden added that he had spoken to Netanyahu to “reaffirm America’s ironclad commitment” to Israel’s security.

“I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks — sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel,” he said.

No US forces or facilities had come under attack from Iran, he said.