US president condemns Iranian attack on Israel in 'strongest possible terms'

WASHINGTON

US President Joe Biden said Saturday he condemns Iran's airborne attack against Israel in the "strongest possible terms."

"I’ve just spoken with Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu to reaffirm America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel.

"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," Biden said in a statement.

He said he will convene G7 leaders on Sunday to coordinate a united diplomatic response to the "brazen attack," and his team will engage with their counterparts across the region.

"And while we have not seen attacks on our forces or facilities today, we will remain vigilant to all threats and will not hesitate to take all necessary action to protect our people," he added.

'US and Israeli forces acted together'

Biden said to support the defense of Israel, the US military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region in the last week.

"Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles," he added.

Separately, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he spoke with top administration officials and they confirmed reports that US and Israeli forces acted together to help protect Israel from missiles and drones launched by Iran.

Schumer urged the House of Representatives to quickly pass the Senate’s bipartisan national security supplemental next week to help Israel.

Iran began an airborne attack Saturday against Israel in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike on its diplomatic facility in the Syrian capital of Damascus. The strike killed at least seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two top generals.

Tehran has accused Israel of carrying out the attack and vowed to respond. Tel Aviv has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack but it has for months carried out several strikes against Iranian targets across Syria.

Iran and Hezbollah, its main ally in Lebanon, have said the attack will not go unpunished.