The Nepal Weekly 
April 16, 2024
The White House has made it clear to Israel that the US will not participate in any retaliatory strikes against Iran, according to senior administration officials.
Over 300 drones and missiles were fired at Israel overnight, which Iran said was in response to an April 1 strike on its consulate in Syria.
Almost all weapons were shot down by Israeli, US and allied forces before they touched their targets. US President Joe Biden, according to officials, urged Israel to consider its response “carefully”.
Talking to reporters on Sunday, a senior US administration official said that President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “think very carefully and strategically” about how his forces replied to the unprecedented action, the first direct attack by Iran on the country.
The official notified that the Biden administration believes Israel “got the best of it” in the exchange, which began when senior Iranian military commanders were killed at an Iranian consular building in Syria.
About 99% of the missiles, drones and cruise missiles launched during Iran’s retaliatory operation were shot down or intercepted – which US officials point to as a sign of Israeli military superiority over Iran.
US aircraft and naval vessels shot down dozens of Iranian projectiles as the attack occurred. More than 80 drones and at least six ballistic missiles were downed by US aircraft and vessels or by air defence forces over Iraq.
This includes seven drones and a ballistic missile as they prepared to launch from Yemen, US Central Command added in an update on Sunday.
