Through aggressive diplomacy backed by U.S. military power, the Administration has worked
alongside our allies and partners to deter and defend against Iran and its terrorist
surrogates. President Biden has postured U.S. military forces in the region and authorized
precision airstrikes on key Iranian-linked targets tied to attacks against U.S. troops to deter
further aggression by Iran. President Biden has also continued to protect the American
people from terrorism, authorizing military strikes that took out ISIS emirs and the leader of
Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
In response to brazen attacks by Iranian-linked Houthi forces against international
commercial shipping, U.S. naval vessels in the Red Sea, and Israel, President Biden ordered
military strikes, alongside key allies, against Houthi targets and organized Operation
Prosperity Guardian, a coalition of more than 20 nations committed to defending
international shipping and deterring Houthi attacks.
When Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones against Israel in April 2024,
President Biden led an unprecedented defensive coalition – together with partners from
82 Europe and across the Middle East – to defeat the attack, protect Israel, and stop the spread
of a wider war. Through direct defensive action by the U.S. military and its partners, Iranian
munitions did not cause significant damage, demonstrating both America’s ironclad
commitment to the security of Israel and our unrivaled ability to leverage growing regional
integration among U.S. partners to counter Iranian aggression
All of this stands in sharp contrast to Trump’s fecklessness and weakness in the face of
Iranian aggression during his presidency. In 2018, when Iranian-backed militias repeatedly
attacked the U.S. consulate in Basra, Iraq Trump’s only response was to close our diplomatic
facility. In June 2019, when Iran shot down a U.S. surveillance aircraft operating in
international airspace above the Straits of Hormuz, Trump responded by tweet and then
abruptly called off any actual retaliation, causing confusion and concern among his own
national security team. In September 2019, when Iranian-backed groups threatened global
energy markets by attacking Saudi oil infrastructure, Trump failed to respond against Iran or
its proxies. In January 2020, when Iran, for the first and only time in its history, directly
launched ballistic missiles against U.S. troops in western Iraq, Trump mocked the resulting
Traumatic Brain Injuries suffered by dozens of American servicemembers as mere
“headaches” – and again, took no action.
The Administration continues to manage the fallout from Trump’s reckless and
short-sighted decision to pull the United States out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action to constrain Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions. Iran was abiding by the agreement not
to expand its nuclear capacity until Trump’s costly mistake. Since then, as a result, Iran has
gone from being more than a year away from being able to produce enough weapons grade
material for a bomb to a matter of weeks, should it choose to do so. Iran has continued to
advance its nuclear program, increase the size and enrichment level of its uranium stockpile,
and develop, manufacture, and operate advanced centrifuges. President Biden remains
committed to a diplomatic solution while standing resolute that Iran will never be allowed to
develop nuclear weapons.
The relevant bits from the linked PDF: