The White House backs Nasrallah's assassination - but faces major new questions

In a strong statement, President Joe Biden said the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah was a 'measure of justice'. But, as ITV News Correspondent Robert Moore explains, the move could push Hezbollah's backer, Iran, into finally finishing its nuclear weapons programme

Washington finds itself in a foreign policy mess of epic proportions, tied in knots by its iron-clad support for Israel and its broader desire for restraint.Those two priorities are now in open conflict.That's what happens when your closest ally in the Middle East escalates its assault on Hamas and Hezbollah without any regard for the sensitivities of American politics.Both President Biden and Kamala Harris have issued statements strongly backing Israel's assassination of Hassan Nasrallah. Biden said it was "a measure of justice" for thousands of his victims, including many Americans.

The Vice President - fearing that she will be outflanked by Donald Trump and portrayed as weak on national security - said she had an "unwavering commitment to the security of Israel."

Palestinian protesters carry Hezbollah flags and posters of Hassan Nasrallah in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Credit: AP

At the same time, Democrats know that an-all out war in the Middle East validates the central Trump narrative that the world is spinning out of control with Biden and Harris at the wheel.America has huge leverage over Israel and chooses not to use it. The killing of Nasrallah was of course an IDF operation. US officials say they had no advance notice. But Israel launched the US-supplied 2,000lb bunker-busting bomb from a US-made F-15 fighter-jet. The extraordinary level of destruction in Gaza is largely done with US weaponry as well, alongside unwavering American diplomatic support at the UN.So, Washington might be calling for de-escalation. But in the eyes of many of its Arab critics, it is part of the problem, not the solution.

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There is one more great fear in US intelligence circles: that Iran will respond to the destruction of its proxy armies by completing its nuclear weapons programme.In other words, Teheran may decide it also needs to re-establish deterrence in the region. If it can no longer use its proxies, the only route to keeping its power intact may be to establish a nuclear arsenal.Israel may be winning against Hamas and Hezbollah. Netanyahu said as much at the United Nations on Friday.But it may have just jeopardised its biggest single strategic objective: stopping Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons power.

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