https://abcnews.go.com/live/video/special-live-11
Iran launched dozens of ballistic missiles toward Israel on Friday night in retaliation for Israel’s surprise attack early Friday.
Israel struck at the heart of the Iran’s nuclear program, killing several nuclear scientists as well as high-ranking military leaders, according to Israeli officials.
The U.S. did not provide any military assistance or have any involvement in the Israeli strike, a U.S. official told ABC News.
US official to UN Security Council: ‘Iran’s leadership would be wise to negotiate’
The U.S. was represented at the UN Security Council’s emergency session on Friday by State Department Senior Bureau Official McCoy Pitt, who said the U.S. was advised by Israel that the actions carried out against Iran overnight were “necessary for its self-defense.”
“Every sovereign nation has the right to defend itself and Israel is no exception,” Pitt said. “The United States was informed of the strikes ahead of time but was not militarily involved in these strikes.”
Pitt repeated Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement, saying Iran and its proxies should refrain from targeting American interests in the Middle East in response to the attack, and stressed that the Trump administration would continue to pursue diplomacy with Iran.
Calls for Iran to show restraint are ‘unjustified,’ Iranian minister says
Calls for restraint from Iran in the face of Israel’s attacks were “unjustified,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement on his conversation with the U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Friday.
Iran’s response to Israel’s attacks “will be firm and decisive,” Araghchi also said.