Harris calls for Iran-Israel ‘de-escalation’

“I feel very strongly, we as the United States feel very strongly that Iran must stop what it is doing in terms of the threat that it presents to the region and we will always defend Israel against any attacks by Iran in that way,” she told reporters in Michigan.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden had expressed hope that the Israeli air raids on Iran marks the end of a period of escalation in West Asia.

“It looks like they didn’t hit anything other than military targets. My hope is this is the end,” he told reporters in Philadelphia,

He said that he spent time earlier Saturday being briefed by the intelligence community. The president added he did receive a heads up ahead of the Israeli strikes.

Biden administration officials have announced the US was not directly involved with the strike, but had been consulting closely with Israel.

The Israeli army targeted military centers in the Iranian provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan, and Ilam in the early hours of Saturday despite warnings from Iran that any adventurism by Israel would face a harsh response.

Iran announced its air defense system intercepted and countered the attacks, with limited damage reported in some areas.

The extent of the incident is currently under investigation.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has defended Tehran’s right “to defend itself against external aggressive acts”.