NSC Adviser Kirby Lauds Israel’s Interception of Iran Attacks

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Israel’s interception of most of Iran’s massive drone and missile attacks was “an incredible military achievement,” National Security Council communications adviser John Kirby said Sunday.

In an interview with NBC News, Kirby hailed Israel’s ability to intercept most of Iran’s missiles in the Saturday attack.

“What Israel demonstrated last night was an incredible ability to defend itself,” he told the outlet. “Just their own military superiority was quite remarkable yesterday. I mean, very little got through, and the damage was extraordinarily light.”

The attacks were viewed as retaliation for the attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, that killed two senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

But Kirby insisted President Joe Biden “doesn’t believe that it needs to move” to an escalation.

“And also, Israel demonstrated again, as I said, that they’re not standing alone, that they have friends,” Kirby said. “So the president’s been clear: We don’t want to see this escalate. We’re not looking for a wider war with Iran. I think, you know, the coming hours and days will tell us a lot.”

In a separate interview Sunday, Kirby asserted the United States wasn’t advising Israeli leaders about any retaliatory response to the attack.

“I think … it’s going to be up to the Israelis to decide what the next step is here,” he said. “I will just say this: President Biden — since the beginning of this conflict — has worked very hard to keep this from becoming a broader regional war, to keep the tensions from escalating.”

He added: “Everything he’s done, everything he’s moved in the region, every decision, every discussion that he’s had is all designed to not let this become a broader regional war and that’s where his head is still.”

Attacks by Tehran-backed proxies against American troops and bases in Iraq and Syria spiked after the October 2023 start of the Israel-Hamas war, but eased in early February when the United States launched a retaliatory assault against the militia groups.

Kirby told NBC News that Biden continues to plan a call for the G7 to discuss a diplomatic response.