Via Teleconference
11:15 P.M. EDT
MODERATOR: Good evening, everyone. Thanks so much for joining the call, especially one on short notice and late on a Friday.
As a reminder, this call is on background, attributable to a senior administration official. For your awareness, not for your reporting, on the call today we have [senior administration official].
This call is embargoed until the conclusion of the call.
[Senior administration official] is going to have a few words at the top, and then we'll take your questions.
Over to you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you, everybody, for joining here late on a Friday.
So, I'm here to provide some brief comment and background on Israel's response earlier this evening against Iran. And just as you will recall, on October 1st, so a few weeks ago, Iran launched an unprecedented attack of nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, which was a significant escalation. Many of these missiles targeted Israel's most populated city of Tel Aviv. Those missiles had the potential to kill hundreds of civilians.
Fortunately, that attack was defeated and ineffective thanks in no small part to U.S. assistance. President Biden directed the U.S. military to help defend Israel during the attack. And in the hours after that attack, we promised serious consequences for Iran.
The next morning, on October 2nd, the President spoke with his G7 counterparts to coordinate a diplomatic response. And over the course of the following week, we and our partners implemented a coordinated series of sanctions against Iran.
And just to review:
The United States, we issued new sanctions against Iran's oil sector, including its so-called Ghost Fleet that carries illicit oil products around the world.
The European Union for the first time sanctioned Iran's civilian airliners, including Iran Air, rendering those airlines no longer able to access European destinations.
The United Kingdom and Australia issued new and sweeping sanctions against Iran's missile program.
This is a coordinated effort across multiple jurisdictions that President Biden led, and those efforts are ongoing with allies and partners.
Tonight, Israel carried out a direct military response against Iran. Specifically, Israel conducted precision airstrikes against multiple military targets across Iran and outside populated areas.
The United States was not a participant in this military operation.
The President and his national security team, of course, worked with the Israelis over recent weeks to encourage Israel to conduct a response that was targeted and proportional with low risk of civilian harm, and that appears to have been precisely what transpired this evening.
The President discussed the overall situation with Prime Minister Netanyahu last week. He encouraged the Prime Minister to design a response that served to deter further attacks against Israel while reducing risk of further escalation. And that is our objective; it's Israel's objective, as well, as they have stated this evening.
Should Iran choose to respond, we are fully prepared to once again defend against any attack. We recently deployed a THAAD battery, which is a ballistic missile defense system, to Israel. And we have worked to strengthen Israel's air defense systems in the run-up to tonight's response.
President Biden and Vice President Harris have demonstrated clearly that we will always help defend Israel and secure its people and territory from Iran and its proxy terrorist groups.
If Iran chooses to respond once again, we will be ready, and there will be consequences for Iran once again. However, we do not want to see that happen. This should be the end of this direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran. Israel has made clear to the world that its response is now complete.
Accordingly, we would call on all countries of influence to press Iran to stop these attacks against Israel so that we can move beyond this direct cycle of attacks.
Over the coming days, we are prepared to lead an effort to secure an end to the war in Lebanon through an agreement that allows civilians on both sides of the Blue Line to safely return to their homes. We are also prepared to lead an effort to finally achieve a ceasefire in Gaza together, with the return of hostages, which must happen without delay.
The overall contours of those arrangements are in place. Tony Blinken was in the region last week. This week, there will be further engagements, including a meeting of hostage negotiators over the coming days. And it's time to bring these deals to a resolution once and for all.
I would just note for some color on the recent hours here over the course of this evening: Of course, the President was briefed throughout the evening by Jake Sullivan, his National Security Advisor, as we are here at the White House. Secretary Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Minister Yoav Gallant, a couple of hours ago. And we just issued a — the Defense Department just issued a readout of that call, again, affirming Israel's full right to self-defense against Iran and our support for its actions tonight, and our commitment to help defend Israel should Iran make the mistake to respond to this attack.
And with that, I'm happy to take a few questions.
MODERATOR: Thank you. We've got time for just a couple of questions.
First up, we'll go to Aamer Madhani. You should be able to unmute yourself.
Q Hey. Thank you both. Did the U.S. assist in any manner at all? Target selection, intel, jamming? And do you assess this action to have had significant-enough impact on Iran's ability to continue to strike Israel directly or its ability to arm Hezbollah?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So, as I said in my statement, we did not participate in this military operation, and I think that's very clear.
I would just say: I'll leave it to the Israelis to describe the scope and breadth of their response this evening. It was extensive. It was targeted. It was precise. It was against military targets across Iran. It was in multiple waves. It was very carefully prepared. And again, I think it was designed to be effective.
And I think — again, I will leave it, though, to the Israelis to characterize and to provide more details, given that this was their military operation.
MODERATOR: Next up, we'll go to Trevor Hunnicutt.
Q Hey. Thanks for doing this. Could you talk a little bit about what, if any, communications or indications you had from Iran heading into this about what level of response they're willing to engage in? And could you talk a little bit about the President's — any plans for the President to follow up with Netanyahu after this?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We do have multiple channels with Iran, direct and indirect. We try to avoid any sense of miscommunication. And they know exactly what our position is on multiple issues, including the dangers and risks of their course of conduct, particularly the launching of 200 ballistic missiles focusing primarily on densely populated areas in Israel's most populated city, which also includes tens of thousands of Americans.
That is totally unacceptable. We will not accept it. We will support Israel defending itself. And, obviously, we'll support Israel fully in its right to self-defense. Iran knows our position on that is unequivocal. And we are quite clear that there's no misunderstanding or miscommunication between us and Iran.
In terms of communication with the Israelis, we are in constant communication with the Israelis up and down their system — military to military, intel to intel, and at the political level. That is something that is ongoing and continuous.
Again, Jake briefed the President multiple times throughout the evening as this was unfolding and, of course, throughout the day today as it was developing. And I think that will obviously continue through the weekend. But I don't have any calls to preview or read out.
MODERATOR: We have time for one last question. We'll go to the line of Kayla Tausche.
Q Thank you, guys, so much for doing this. We appreciate it.
I have two questions. The first is: You've described these strikes as "designed to be effective." Can you elaborate on what effect they were intended to have and whether they, in fact, did?
And then, you've suggested that this should be the end to the conflict, but does the administration believe it will be the end of the conflict?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So, first of all, the effect, it's a proportionate self-defense response to an unbelievably brazen and reckless ballistic missile attack, almost unprecedented in history, that has launched almost three weeks ago. So, the effect is to deter future attacks and also to degrade the capabilities of Iran being able to conduct those types of activities.
As to specific targets, I will say we know them, but I would leave it to the Israelis to discuss them in any further detail.
What was your second question? I'm sorry.
Q The second question was: You have suggested that this should be the end of the conflict, but does the administration actually believe that it will be?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, this should be the end of the direct military exchange between Israel and Iran. And so, we had a direct exchange in April, and that was closed off, and we've now had this direct exchange. Again, a direct — 200 ballistic missiles fired from Iran at Israel. Israel did not attack Iran. Iran attacked Israel, 200 ballistic missiles. And Israel, tonight, has responded to that attack as an exercise of self-defense. As far as we're concerned, that should close out that direct exchange between Israel and Iran.
As to the broader conflicts in the region, obviously much more complex. I mentioned and alluded to them in my statement. We do have a number of initiatives ongoing with respect to those.
But as to the direct military exchange between Israel and Iran, we do think this should complete that direct exchange. And, again, should Iran choose to respond, we are fully prepared to defend Israel and support Israel, and there will be consequences should Iran make that unfortunate decision.
But as far as we're concerned, this direct exchange, this should be the end of it. I will say we've heard the same thing from many across the region, including many with close ties to Iran. So we'll see how that unfolds.
But that is our very strong view. That's been communicated to our partners throughout the region, and obviously it's been communicated through multiple channels, indirectly and directly, to Iran.
MODERATOR: Thanks, everyone. That's all the time we have for tonight. As a reminder, this call was on background to a senior administration official, and the embargo is now lifted. Thanks so much, and have a good night.
11:27 P.M. EDT
