John Kirby slammed as he accuses Trump administration of provoking Iran ahead of attack on Israel

WASHINGTON, DC: In the wake of Iran's direct attacks against Israel, White House national security communications spokesperson John Kirby found himself under scrutiny, with fingers pointed at the Biden administration's approach to the escalating tensions.

Kirby's response during an interview with Shannon Bream on 'Fox News Sunday' added fuel to the fire, as he partially attributed the situation to former President Trump's policies, sparking a wave of criticism and debate.

Trump rebukes Biden following Iran's attack

Iran launched a furious assault involving over 300 drones and missiles aimed at Israel, which, with the aid of its allies including the US, managed to thwart 99% of the attack. However, the severity of the incident sparked concern and debate over the Biden administration's response, particularly its stance on Iran.

The Biden administration's purported advisement against a retaliatory strike by Israel drew attention and criticism, especially from Republican quarters. Former President Trump seized the moment to denounce what he perceived as weakness under the current administration.

"The weakness that we've shown [under the Biden administration], it's unbelievable. And it would not have happened if we were in office, you know that," Trump said Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania. 

Scrutiny over Biden administration's policies toward Iran

During the interview, Kirby faced probing questions regarding the Biden administration's policies toward Iran, particularly its decision to permit waivers on sanctions and unfreeze assets.

The recent approval of a sanctions waiver allowing Iraq to purchase energy from Iran, thus granting access to a substantial sum of money, raised eyebrows. Kirby defended the move, asserting that the funds would not benefit the Iranian regime directly.

"Could this administration have been tougher on Iran? Did it sense an opening?" Bream asked.

"It's hard to take a look at what President Biden has done and say that we have somehow gone soft on Iran," Kirby responded. "It was the previous administration that decided to get us out of the Iran deal. And now Iran is so much dramatically closer to a potential nuclear weapon capability than they were before Mr Trump was elected."

GOP senators voiced criticism over what they saw as a lack of deterrence from the Biden administration.

"So much for President Biden telling bad guys ‘Don’t’ actually being an effective deterrent. Every time he says ’Don’t,' they do," Sen Lindsey Graham, R-SC, posted on X Saturday.

"Under President Trump, Iran was broke. President Biden gifted them billions of dollars and then naively said 'don’t,'" said Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. "'Don’t' is not a foreign policy."

Responding to the backlash, Kirby reiterated his stance, blaming Trump's foreign policy decisions for the current state of affairs.

"Is it not fair to say, though, that there have been moves by this administration that have opened up cash and other opportunities for them, which we know are fungible in ways that are not helping the Iranian people but are benefiting the elites and people there who chant ‘Death to America?'" Bream asked. 

"The additional funds that have been made available to Iran due to the sanctions relief program that the Trump administration put in place, can only be used for humanitarian goods. It doesn't go to the regime," Kirby declared. "And the idea that the regime was somehow felt like they were freed up to support these proxies because of that. It just doesn't comport with the fact that they have been supporting these proxies for years." 

According to him, the money wasn't "fungible."

"They can't, they physically can't do that," Kirby told the outlet. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had issued prior warnings and said they had "been preparing for the possibility of a direct attack from Iran."

Meanwhile, Biden praised Israel's ability to defend itself following the attack. "Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks, sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel," he said.

Social media backlash

However, Kirby's attempt to contextualize the events within the framework of Trump's policies faced backlash on social media. Many lambasted his remarks, highlighting what they perceived as a failure to acknowledge the consequences of the Biden administration's approach to Iran.

"Always blame someone else John Kirby," one posted on X.

"Trump isn’t responsible for funding both sides that’s all on Biden/Obama," another insisted.

"They'll blame Trump if it rains tomorrow," someone else quipped.

"John Kirby seems like he confused Trump bankrupt Iran Biden bailed them out," a comment read.

"Trump actually weakened Iran with increased sanctions. The Biden regime reversed every single policy, unfreezing billions of dollars in assets, even removing the Houthis from the terrorism list," another offered.

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