(TotalConservative.com) – President Joe Biden simply can’t get a break in the Middle East. The latest outburst of violence between Iran and Israel marked the first time Iran launched direct attacks against Israel. A barrage of hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones were intercepted, destroyed, or failed to reach their targets for technical reasons on April 13, according to US and Israeli authorities.
Israel responded with an attack on Iran’s Isfahan province which contains nuclear facilities as well as an airbase. However, Israel is refusing to publicly take responsibility to avoid escalation and Iran was also eager to downplay the impact of the attack while saying they will not retaliate again.
That didn’t stop officials within the Biden administration from letting the cat out of the bag to members of the press. CNN and Fox News both quoted Biden officials who openly and publicly acknowledged Israel’s retaliatory strike on Iran as such.
Israel had apparently not communicated their desire to downplay their involvement effectively to the Biden administration, or they simply ignored it for reasons unknown. Critics of the move writing for the Israel-based Jerusalem Post suggested the deception was designed to prevent further escalation. The anonymous Israeli officials who contributed to the story suggested the Americans should have kept their mouths shut to preserve “Iran’s dignity.”
Iran largely claimed that the attack was an explosion at a factory and downplayed Israeli involvement. Israel also gave the Biden administration a 24-48 heads up that they were planning to strike Iran, according to a senior US official who spoke with The Jerusalem Post.
Business Insider is reporting that Israel used a supersonic “Rampage” missile in the attack. They cite The Times of Israel which claimed that images of the weapon were captured before it struck and the damage reports were consistent with its destructive potential. Other reports claimed that the weapon was a “Blue Sparrow” missile.
Western officials quoted by the New York Times have suggested that Israel’s strike on Iran was scaled back from what was originally going to be a much broader strike. The purpose of the attack was to remind Tehran that Israel can evade its air defenses, according to officials.
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