White House: Iran Took ‘Huge’ ‘Escalatory Step’ But We Won’t ‘Accept’ ‘Constant, Rising Escalation’

On Monday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said that Iran’s attack was “escalatory” and “a huge step in the wrong direction.” But “just because Iran conducted this unprecedented attack, which we and our Israeli partners and other partners thwarted, doesn’t mean that we should just accept a constant, rising escalation in the region. The president’s not going to accept that. He wants to see things de-escalate, and everything we’re going to do from this point forward is going to be designed to continue to try to reach that outcome.” Kirby also stated that the decision on how to respond is up to Israel.

Co-host Kate Bolduan asked, “You have made clear that the position of the Biden administration is that he doesn’t want this to turn into a wider regional conflict, I’ve heard you say that a few times now. The Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), he reacted to you yesterday talking about this, and he said that you’re wrong to say that you don’t want an escalation. His point is that it’s already escalated, this unprecedented attack directly from Iran is the escalation. Your response?”

Kirby answered, “There’s no question that what Iran tried to do — and I emphasize the word ‘tried’ to do — was an escalatory step, no question. It was an unprecedented aerial attack from Iranian soil to Israeli soil. And we haven’t seen that. That’s a huge step in the wrong direction. But let’s talk about what didn’t happen, and what didn’t happen was any major damage or casualties caused in Israel, because the United States stands good by our commitment to help Israel defend itself. And just because Iran conducted this unprecedented attack, which we and our Israeli partners and other partners thwarted, doesn’t mean that we should just accept a constant, rising escalation in the region. The president’s not going to accept that. He wants to see things de-escalate, and everything we’re going to do from this point forward is going to be designed to continue to try to reach that outcome.”

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