On Tuesday, State Department Primary Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel answered reporter questions on the continued connection between Iran and Hamas, during a press briefing.
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00:00 This next question I want to dedicate --
00:02 Is it on the region or is it off topic?
00:04 Okay, I will come back to you then.
00:06 Michel, go ahead.
00:07 I'm not aware of first of an assassination attempt
00:11 on President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.
00:15 Thanks for your question, Michel.
00:16 So I saw those public reports to offer on that.
00:19 I'm saying this, I have more information
00:21 from the United States' perspective.
00:23 We will certainly share that.
00:25 From the public reporting, it seems that
00:29 President Abbas himself was not harmed.
00:32 But again, as we get more information
00:34 and as the situation develops
00:36 and we have anything additional to share,
00:37 we'll make sure to share it.
00:39 And my second question is on the attacks
00:42 on the U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq.
00:46 There have now been 40 attacks
00:49 in this region since October 17th.
00:54 President Biden, Vice President Harris,
00:56 Secretary Blinken, and other officials
00:59 threatened Iran and its proxies not to do it.
01:02 They have done it.
01:04 What's next?
01:05 So, Michel, I don't think you need to look any further
01:10 than how we have tackled the threat that has been Iran.
01:16 Over the course of this entire administration,
01:20 we have used a combination of deterrence, pressure,
01:24 and diplomacy to counter Iran's destabilizing activities.
01:29 I will also note that we sent a very loud
01:32 and direct deterrence message to Iran
01:35 about our willingness to vigorously protect
01:39 our personnel and our interests.
01:40 Late last month, on October 26th,
01:43 the U.S. military carried out strikes
01:46 against two facilities in Eastern Syria
01:48 used by the IRGC and affiliated groups.
01:52 These precision self-defense strikes
01:55 were a response to a series of ongoing
01:58 and largely unsuccessful attacks
01:59 against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria, as you said.
02:03 So we've been very clear that, one,
02:05 we will take any steps possible to protect our personnel
02:11 and our interests in the region.
02:13 But additionally, we have been very clear
02:15 to countries in the region that we are incredibly keen
02:20 on ensuring that this conflict does not spread.
02:23 And in the matter of Iraq, that's something
02:26 that we raised directly with Prime Minister Soudani
02:30 on Secretary Blinken's trip.
02:32 And the prime minister has also called
02:34 these attacks unacceptable and has committed
02:37 to taking whatever possible steps they can to stop.