Tipsheet

Clip of Harris Sending a Warning to Iran Is Circulating Again

As reports broke out Tuesday that Iran launched a massive ballistic missile attack against Israel, a clip of Vice President Kamala Harris sharing her advice to Tehran began circulating again.

Weeks after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Harris sat down with “60 Minutes” to discuss concerns about a wider regional conflict breaking out. 

“She told us the U.S. wants to keep the conflict from escalating but that's proving difficult,” said CBS’s Bill Whitaker during the Oct. 30, 2023, interview. “In the last two weeks, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, both proxies of Iran, have launched missiles, rockets and drones against Israel, and Iranian-backed militias have fired on U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Syria. In response, the U.S. launched airstrikes against Iranian weapons facilities in Syria. If that weren't enough of a signal to Iran and other adversaries, the Pentagon has also deployed two imposing aircraft carrier strike groups to the region.”

Asked for her message to Iran, Harris channeled President Biden’s one-word diplomatic strategy, “don’t”—a threat Republicans began circulating again in light of Tuesday's developments.