Fox’s Roberts Demands John Kirby Explain Why U.S. Not Escalating Conflict With Iran: Is Biden ‘Waiting for Americans to be Killed?’

Fox News’ John Roberts floated a potentially increased conflict between the U.S. and Iran as he questioned White House spokesman John Kirby over the Biden administration’s strategy to deal with Iranian harassment.

In an interview between Roberts and Kirby on Monday, the Fox News host focused on recent U.S. airstrikes against Middle Eastern targets linked to Iran. These were retaliatory strikes hoped to deter further attacks on U.S. military bases in the region, though the Middle East is currently observing major unrest with Israel’s ongoing war against the Hamas terror group, which Iran also backs.

Roberts invoked the commentary of former General Jack Keane in order to ask Kirby why President Joe Biden hasn’t ordered a direct attack on Iran’s key military infrastructure. Kirby answered by saying the government is currently focused on targets that will inhibit the IRGC’s capacity to support their proxy groups.

“We don’t seek a conflict with Iran right now,” Kirby said. “We’re not looking to escalate anything. We are looking to protect our troops in Iraq and Syria and we will continue to do that.”

“It’s not making a difference,” Roberts objected, recalling how Donald Trump ordered the drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani in 2020. Commenting that “Iran backed down” with their past retaliations against the U.S., Roberts wanted to know, “What is President Biden waiting for? Is he waiting for Americans to be killed before he takes substantive action that will actually give Iran pause?”

“We are not waiting for anything, John,” Kirby responded. “We are willing and able to take retaliatory strikes to protect our troops and our facilities, and we will continue to do that…We are not looking to escalate. But if they continue to attack our troops and put their lives in danger, we we will continue to take action and do what we have to do to protect them.”

“I understand the United States is worried about escalation in the region,” said Roberts, “but it seems the only nation interested in escalation is Iran… If Iran is the only nation in the region looking to escalate this, why not slap them back really hard so they don’t even think about it?”

Watch Kirby’s answer above via Fox News.