Joe Biden warns Iran against targeting US troops in Middle East
Joe Biden has sent a rare message to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning Tehran against targeting U.S. personnel in the Middle East, the White House said on Thursday after a spate of attacks on American forces in the region.
«There was a direct message relayed,» White House spokesman John Kirby said at a news briefing, declining to elaborate.
Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
U.S. officials want to avoid a wider conflict in the Middle East following the Oct. 7 attack by the militant Hamas group on Israel that killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians.
About 900 additional U.S. troops are headed to the region or have recently arrived there to bolster air defenses to protect U.S. personnel amid a surge in attacks in the region by Iran-affiliated groups, the Pentagon said.
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U.S. troops have been attacked at least 12 times in Iraq and four times in Syria in the past week, it added.
On Wednesday, Biden said he had warned the ayatollah the United States would respond if U.S. forces continued to be targeted but did not say how the message was communicated.
«My warning to the ayatollah was that if they continue to move against those troops, we will respond, and he should be prepared. It has nothing to do with Israel,» he told reporters.
In a comment posted on social media before Kirby spoke, an aide to Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi disputed Biden's account.
«The US messages were neither directed to the leader of the Islamic Revolution nor were they anything but requests from the Iranian side. If Biden thinks he has warned Iran, he should ask his team to
