White House bizarrely REFUSES to comment hours after Israel carried out airstrikes on Iran... despite Biden warning Netanyahu AGAINST it

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly refused to address Israel's attack on Iran, saying President Joe Biden's administration has no comment on the matter. 

Jean-Pierre, when she took to the podium at her daily press briefing, announced at the top: 'I know there's a lot a lot of interest in reports from the Middle East overnight, and we understand that. We get that. I'm going to say it now, though I know you all will will certainly ask me about it, that we do not have any comment on the reports at this time.'

She stuck to that stance despite repeated questions. 

'I'm not going to speak or speculate about any of the reports that are out there. I'm not going to comment. I'm just going to leave it there,' she told reporters.

American officials acknowledged they received an advance warning from Tel Aviv about the attack on a base in central Iran but there are reports the administration was refusing to comment on the matter because the White House doesn't want to get dragged into a war between Israel and Iran.

Jean-Pierre repeated the White House line that they do not want to see escalation in the region.   

'We have been very, very clear from here - from the beginning - that we do not want to see this conflict escalate,' she said.

The  administration has insisted it wasn't involved in the offensive. Biden had warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be cautious about retaliation, not wanting him to spark a war in the Middle East. 

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who is chairing a meeting of G7 countries, revealed the U.S. had given the rest of the alliance notice that they had gotten a head's up on 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.' 

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 countries shared 'a commitment to hold Iran to account.'

Tel Aviv struck the city of Isfahan in central Iran was struck at 5am local time, with Israel reported to have targeted an air base near the city that also hosts some of Iran's nuclear research facilities. 

Isfahan is known hotbed for Iran's nuclear research and houses drone production plants - but the attack is thought to have caused little material damage, and no casualties have been reported. 

Israel's attack was in retaliation for Iran's on Saturday, when Tehran sent more than 300 missiles and drones at Tel Aviv, most of which were shoot down. 

Netanyahu was close to ordering a wide-spread attack on Tehran on the night Iran attacked but after he spoke with President Biden, and because the damage was limited, the Israeli war cabinet postponed a decision. 

Biden and other world leaders spent this week urging Israel not to retaliate in a way that would set off a wider Middle East war.

They pointed out Israeli forces are already fighting on two additional fronts: Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both allies of Iran. 

Israel can ill-afford a major conflict with Iran, particularly as the IDF is stretched to capacity amid the ongoing military operations against Hamas and intermittent skirmishes with Hezbollah at the northern border with Lebanon. 

Meanwhile, President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran had warned that 'the tiniest act of aggression' would draw a response. 

But, in the aftermath, Iranian officials sought to downplay any significant damage to its military facilities and outright denied any nuclear plants were destroyed, while Iranian state TV this morning released footage of an undisturbed Isfahan to cast doubt on reports the city had been hit. 

Israel's strike had a smaller scope than expected, which allowed Iranian officials to downplay its significance.

Experts believe that will allow both countries to de-escalate while saving face.