US not seeking war with Iran: White House national security spokesman

WASHINGTON -- The United States does not want to go to war with Iran, a White House national security spokesman said on Sunday.

Appearing on CNN's State of the Union news program one day after Iran launched attacks against Israel, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby was asked by host Jake Tapper if the Biden administration supports an Israeli retaliatory operation directly aimed at targets inside Iran.

Kirby stopped short of saying explicitly if the United States would support or oppose such a potential move by Israel.

"As the president has said many times, we don't seek a wider war in the region. We don't seek a war with Iran. And I think I'll leave it at that," he said.

Kirby seemed to be showing more restraint in his remarks. According to US media reports citing White House officials, US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone Saturday night that the United States would neither participate in nor support any offensive operations by Israel against Iran.

Iran and allied armed groups launched coordinated drone and missile strikes on Israel late Saturday night in retaliation for an Israeli deadly assault on the Iranian consulate in Syria two weeks ago.