We helped Israel bring down ‘nearly all’ Iran drones – Joe Biden

On Saturday, President Joe Biden declared that “nearly all” of the drones and missiles fired at Israel by Iran had been shot down by US forces. He also reiterated his “ironclad” support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a statement, Biden said that he will bring together the leaders of the G7, an alliance of affluent countries, on Sunday to plan a “unified diplomatic response” to Iran’s “brazen” action.

“Iran launched an unprecedented airstrike against Israeli military installations, assisted by its proxies in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq. In the greatest terms possible, I denounce these insults,” Biden declared.

In light of the growing likelihood of an Iranian threat to the vital US partner, he claimed to have ordered US military planes and ballistic missile defence destroyers to the Middle East in recent days.

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

President Biden further noted 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.

AFP