Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday she believes “it would be a mistake” for Tehran to respond to Israel’s counterstrike on Iran.
In an interview with “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell conducted on the campaign trail in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Harris said her message to Iran was “do not respond.”
“It would be a mistake,” the Democratic presidential candidate said. “And we are prepared to defend Israel, as we have before. We will again. But the critical point is that there must be a de-escalation in the region. And we are working through diplomatic channels, and other channels, to ensure that there is a de-escalation in the region.”
Early Saturday morning local time, the Israeli military launched a series of what it described as “precise strikes on military targets” in response to Iran’s Oct. 1 missile attack on Israel in which it fired about 200 ballistic missiles.
While explosions were heard in Tehran, according to Iranian state media, Iran’s military appeared to downplay the attack, with a government spokesperson saying the strikes caused only “limited damage.” Iranian state media said four soldiers were killed.
Speaking to reporters in Philadelphia Saturday on his way to a campaign event, Biden said that he received a head’s up from Israel prior to the attacks.
“It looks like they didn’t hit anything other than military targets,” Mr. Biden said. “My hope is this is the end.”
And in a call with reporters, a senior Biden administration official said the U.S. did not participate in the operation, describing Israel’s attack as an “act of self-defense.”
The senior official said that Mr. Biden last week spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “encouraged” him “to design a response that served to deter further attacks against Israel while reducing risk of further escalation.”
A spokesperson for Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that “Israel chose in advance the targets of the attack in accordance with its national interests, and not according to American dictates.”
When asked about Netanyahu’s relationship with the Biden administration in an interview with “60 Minutes” earlier this month, Harris responded, “I think, with all due respect, the better question is, do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people.”
The Biden administration in August approved $20 billion in weapons sales to Israel.
Harris declined to say if U.S. intelligence indicated that Iran wants to respond, reiterating that the U.S. stance is that Tehran “should not respond and that would be a mistake.”
And when pushed on whether there would be consequences for such an Iranian response, Harris said, “I’ll keep you posted.”
