President Biden said he expects Iran to attack Israel “sooner than later” as tensions continue to heighten between the Middle East powers.Â
Biden was asked Friday how imminent a potential attack on Israel is from Tehran following an Israeli strike on Iran’s Damascus consulate in Syria. Â
“I don’t want to get into secure information, but my expectation [is] sooner than later,” he replied.
ISRAELI PM, MILITARY LEADERS HOLD EMERGENCY MEETING AMID POSSIBLE DIRECT IRANIAN ATTACK
President Biden said he expects Iran to attack Israel and tensions will continue to flare between the two nations. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We are devoted to the defense of Israel,” he added. “We will support Israel. We will defend, help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed.”
When asked what his message to Tehran was, Biden simply said: “Don’t.” When he was asked to elaborate, he walked away.Â
Meanwhile, sirens blared in northern Israel on Friday as 40 “launches were identified crossing from Lebanese territory, some of which were intercepted,” the Israel Defense Forces said.Â
“Earlier this evening, the IDF Aerial Defense Array successfully intercepted two Hezbollah explosive UAVs that had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” the IDF said.Â
US RESTRICTS STAFF IN ISRAEL FROM TRAVELING OUTSIDE CITIES AS IRAN ATTACK THREAT PERSISTS
![Iran Israel US](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/04/1200/675/Biden-Ayatollah-Netanyahu.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Getty Images)
Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has sent rockets into Israel on a daily basis since Oct. 7.Â
The U.S. was moving “additional assets” to the Middle East region “to bolster regional deterrence efforts and increase force protection for U.S. forces,” a U.S. defense official told Fox News on Friday.
“I would just say that we’re watching this very, very closely,” U.S. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters on Friday. “We still deemed the potential threat by Iran here to be real, to be viable, certainly credible, and we’re watching it as closely as we can.”Â
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“Right now, our focus is on having a conversation with our Israeli counterparts and making sure not just conversations, but making sure that they have what they need and that they’re able to defend themselves,” Kirby added. “We’re also clear it would be imprudent if we didn’t take a look at our own posture in the region to make sure that we’re properly prepared as well.”
Fox News Digital’s Peter Aitken contributed to this report.Â