White House was warned 'last minute' about Israel's strike on Iran in defiance ... trends now
The United States said it received 'last minute' information from Israel about its drone attack on Iran but President Joe Biden's administration insisted it wasn't involved in the offensive.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who is chairing a meeting of G7 countries, revealed the U.S. had given the rest of the alliance the information at a Friday morning session that was changed to address the attack.
Tajani said American officials told G7 ministers that it had been 'informed at the last minute' by Israel about the drones it was sending into Iran. 'But there was no sharing of the attack by the U.S. It was a mere information.'
Israeli strikes hit Isfahan in central Iran, which is where Iran's nuclear capabilities are located
A senior American official told the New York Times that Israel had notified the United States through multiple channels shortly before its attack against Iran.
The official noted the attack was expected given that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been hinting at one all week.
'We were not surprised,' said the official.
The White House has not publicly commented on the attack.
Administration officials were keeping quiet to avoid getting the United States pulled into the conflict between Iran and Israel, the official told the Times.
Another official told CNN that the U.S. 'didn't endorse the response.'
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in Italy for a meeting of G7 foreign ministers, declined to address the strike.
'I'm not going to speak to that except to say that the United States has not been involved in any offensive operations,' Blinken told reporters there.
'We're also committed to de-escalating – to trying to bring this tension to a close,' Blinken noted.
He also said the
