Biden: U.S. and Israel were able to ‘take down nearly all’ Iranian drones and missiles

President Joe Biden on Saturday condemned Iranian attacks on the state of Israel and said he would convene fellow world leaders in the day ahead to coordinate a response.

In a statement issued after he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden said that, in conjunction with U.S. forces, Israel was able to “take down” nearly all “the incoming drones and missiles" launched by Iran “and its proxies operating out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq.”

Biden reaffirmed “America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel” and said that coordination would continue.

“My team will engage with their counterparts across the region,” Biden’s statement read. “And we will stay in close touch with Israel’s leaders. 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.”

Earlier in the day, the president cut short a weekend trip to his Delaware beach home to return to the White House. His arrival roughly coincided with Iran and its proxies launching their drone and missile strikes.

“This attack is likely to unfold over a number of hours,” Adrienne Watson, National Security Council spokesperson, said in a statement early in the afternoon. “President Biden has been clear: our support for Israel’s security is ironclad. The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran.”

The administration had been on high alert for a possible retaliatory attack from Iran or its proxies after an Israeli strike killed a senior Iranian officer at an embassy in Syria. U.S. officials had deemed the threat from Iran as real and viable. And in his statement, Biden noted that “the U.S. military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week” in anticipation of an attack.

Among those who joined Biden in the White House Situation Room for the meetings on Saturday included Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sillivan as well as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the directors of national intelligence and the CIA. Vice President Kamala Harris joined via videoconference.

Iran’s attacks on Saturday came almost two weeks after the Israeli strike that killed Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, and six other officers as they attended a meeting in the Damascus embassy compound. Israel has not claimed responsibility for that attack.

Earlier on Saturday, commanders from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard rappelled from a helicopter onto an Israeli-affiliated container ship near the Strait of Hormuz and seized the vessel.

The rising tension between Israel and Iran comes as the region has already been roiled by Israel's six-month bombardment of Gaza after the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas. U.S. officials have urged Israel to not launch an all-out assault on the city of Rafah in Gaza and Biden has been increasingly critical of Netanyahu’s handling of the war.