World
Biden’s dovish posture toward Iran emboldened Tehran in its attack on Israel: experts
JERUSALEM — American and Israeli experts issued scathing indictments of President Biden’s alleged timid Iran policy after Tehran launched a massive aerial warfare attack on the Jewish state over the weekend.
The Islamic Republic, for the first time, executed direct missile and drone strikes into Israeli territory. The dramatic events in the heart of the Middle East have triggered calls for the Biden administration to reverse its reportedly dovish outreach to the ayatollahs who run the theocratic state. Biden is now urging Israel to recoil from a counterstrike.
“This was a massive, unprecedented and unacceptable strategic attack on Israel,” Richard Goldberg, who was a member of former President Trump’s National Security Council, told Fox News Digital. “It would be a huge mistake to pull Israel back from a military retaliation, but it’s downright insanity to keep $10 billion accessible to Tehran in the aftermath. The president needs to lock down all the money he made available to Tehran these past months.”
BIDEN CALLING FOR G7 MEETING IN RESPONSE TO IRAN’S ‘BRAZEN’ ATTACK
Israeli defense systems intercept an Iranian missile over Maale Adumim, near Jerusalem, in the early hours of April 14, 2024. (Matanya Reichman/TPS)
Last month, Fox News Digital reported that Biden defied opponents of Iran’s regime and waived sanctions on Iran’s cash-starved economy. Biden faced criticism after releasing as much as $10 billion into the coffers of the Islamic Republic. In January, an Iranian regime-sponsored proxy terrorist attack killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan.
The Biden administration insisted that Iran’s regime can’t use the funds for its growing military offensive arsenal. Critics argue that the $10 billion is fungible money and the financial allocation allows Iran to revise its budget to expand its military apparatus.
This image shows a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters on March 22, 2024.
Goldberg, who is a senior adviser for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, added, “If the president is looking for economic and diplomatic responses to the Iranian attack, there are three obvious ones available: lock down the $10 billion, enforce U.S. oil sanctions and snap back U.N. sanctions. If Biden avoids these steps, this isn’t escalation avoidance. It’s continued appeasement.”
HOW CAN ISRAEL RESPOND TO IRAN’S BRAZEN ATTACK?
Speaking on “Fox News Sunday” with Shannon Bream, White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby rejected criticism that the administration has not been tough enough on Tehran, noting the sanctions and other measures used against Tehran: “It’s hard to take a look at what President Biden has done and say that we’ve somehow gone soft on Iran.”
This view shows the Port of Kharg Island oil terminal in Iran on March 12, 2017. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
He continued, “It was the previous administration that decided to get us out of the Iran deal. And now Iran is so much dramatically closer to potential nuclear weapon capability than they were before … Mr. Trump was elected.”
Quizzed on the financial relief given to Iran and how the regime used it, he said, “It’s not even sanctions relief but 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.”
An Iranian military truck carries surface-to-air missiles past a portrait of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a parade on April 18, 2018, in Tehran. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, who appeared on “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo,” said he believed the Biden administration’s reaction to the death of the IRGC generals in Syria following the reported Israeli attack showed how “fractured” the relationship with Israel had become, and that it had “emboldened Iran.”
Fox News Digital reported in October, shortly after Iran’s proxy, Hamas, slaughtered 1,200 people, including over 30 Americans, in southern Israel that the Biden administration and its European allies allowed U.N. sanctions to be lifted on Iran’s capability to purchase and supply missiles to enemies of the U.S. and Israel.
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital at the time that “the snapback mechanism is not expiring and remains in place. We do not rely solely on UNSCR 2231 to restrict Iran’s dangerous development and proliferation of missile-related technologies and UAVs, but rather a comprehensive set of multilateral and unilateral tools.”
WORLD LEADERS COLLECTIVELY CONDEMN IRAN’S ‘RECKLESS’ ATTACK AGAINST ISRAEL: ‘WE SUPPORT ISRAEL’
President Biden (Anna Moneymaker/File)
The spokesperson went on to say, “We continue to use all our tools to counter Iran’s missile and UAV development and proliferation, including sanctions, unilateral and multilateral export controls, interdiction activities, diplomatic engagement, cooperation with private industry.”
Lisa Daftari, a leading Iranian-American expert on the Islamic Republic and editor-in-chief of the Foreign Desk, told Fox News Digital that “The Biden administration’s posture in the first hours of coming into the White House was that they were going to go soft on the regime. Their policies reflected this. Their rhetoric reflected this. They sent a clear message to the mullahs that there would be no consequences for their rogue actions. What we are seeing is a manifestation of weak policies and the ayatollah’s correct read on American foreign policy.”
Israeli Air Force planes intercepted UAVs and cruise missiles sent from Iran on Saturday. (IDF Spokesman’s Unit)
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital press query. A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital last week that “Iran’s political, financial and material support to terror groups, Hamas prominently among them, is well documented, and in fact trumpeted by the regime. Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. The regime prioritizes financing Hamas and proxy groups at the expense of its own people and stability in the region.”
Yaakov Katz, a leading Israeli expert on security and defense of the Jewish state, told Fox News Digital that “Iran has been given immunity since Oct. 7 despite the continued attacks by its proxies: Hamas, Houthis and Hezbollah.”
Katz added, “What happened on Saturday night was a direct and unprecedented Iranian attack against Israel. The containment policy does not work and the world’s strategy of diplomacy and sanctions is not effective. The world needs to shift gears and change the way it has tried to confront Iran.”
Shops and schools shut in northern Israel as residents protested a 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon that took effect on April 16, saying “nothing was achieved”. Israeli officials say operations may continue, with forces still deployed inside southern Lebanon.
Published On 19 Apr 2026
World
Pope Leo says remarks about world being ‘ravaged by a handful of tyrants’ were not aimed at Trump: report
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Pope Leo XIV said Saturday that remarks he made this week in which he said the “world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants” were not directed at President Donald Trump, a report said.
The pope, speaking onboard a flight to Angola during his 10-day tour of Africa, said reporting about his comments “has not been accurate in all its aspects” and his speech “was prepared two weeks ago, well before the president ever commented on myself and on the message of peace that I am promoting,” according to Reuters.
The news outlet cited the pope as saying his comments were not aimed at Trump.
“As it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate the president, which is not in my interest at all,” the pope reportedly said.
’60 MINUTES’ ACCUSED OF USING LEFT-LEANING CARDINALS TO BAIT TRUMP INTO FEUD WITH VATICAN
Pope Leo XIV answers journalists’ questions during his flight from Yaoundé, Cameroon, to Luanda, Angola, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Luca Zennaro/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance later took to X to thank the pope for clearing the record.
“While the media narrative constantly gins up conflict — and yes, real disagreements have happened and will happen — the reality is often much more complicated,” Vance wrote. “Pope Leo preaches the gospel, as he should, and that will inevitably mean he offers his opinions on the moral issues of the day.
“The President — and the entire administration — work to apply those moral principles in a messy world,” he continued. “He will be in our prayers, and I hope that we’ll be in his.”
The vice president’s comments came days after he told Fox News’ Bret Baier on “Special Report” that it would be best for the Vatican to “stick to matters of morality.”
“Let the President of the United States stick to dictating American public policy,” Vance said Tuesday.
Trump last Sunday accused Pope Leo XIV of being “terrible” on foreign policy after the pontiff criticized the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
“He talks about ‘fear’ of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
POPE LEO SLAMS THOSE WHO ‘MANIPULATE RELIGION’ FOR MILITARY OR POLITICAL GAIN, TRUMP RESPONDS
Pope Leo XIV and President Donald Trump (Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images; Salwan Georges/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
During a speech in Cameroon on Thursday, the pope said, “We must make a decisive change of course — a true conversion — that will lead us in the opposite direction, onto a sustainable path rich in human fraternity.
“The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters.
Pope Leo XIV speaks as he meets with the community of Bamenda at Saint Joseph’s Cathedral in Bamenda on the fourth day of an 11-day apostolic journey to Africa April 16, 2026. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.
Bulgarians headed to the polls Sunday for the eighth time in five years, with anti-corruption candidate and former president Rumen Radev’s bloc tipped to win.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
The European Union’s poorest member has been through a spate of governments since 2021, when large anti-graft rallies brought an end to the conservative government of long-time leader Boyko Borissov.
Eurostat data shows Bulgaria consistently ranks last in the EU by GDP per capita. In 2025, Bulgaria (along with Greece) was at 68% of the EU average.
Radev, who has advocated for renewing ties with Russia and opposes military aid to Ukraine, was president for nine years in the Balkan nation of 6.5 million people.
He stepped down in January to lead newly formed centre-left grouping Progressive Bulgaria, with opinion polls before Sunday’s vote suggesting the bloc could gain 35% of the vote.
The former air force general has said he wants to rid the country of its “oligarchic governance model”, and backed anti-corruption protests in late 2025 that brought down the latest conservative-backed government.
“I’m voting for change,” Decho Kostadinov, 57, told reporters after casting his ballot at a polling station in the capital, Sofia, adding corrupt politicians “should leave — they should take whatever they’ve stolen and get out of Bulgaria”.
Polls are forecasting a surge in voter participation, with more than 3.3 million Bulgarians expected to cast ballots according to the Bulgarian News Agency.
Voting will close at 1700 GMT, with exit polls expected immediately afterwards. Preliminary results are expected on Monday.
‘Preserve what we have’
Borissov’s pro-European GERB party is likely to come second, according to opinion polls, with around 20%, ahead of the liberal PP-DB.
“I’m voting to preserve what we have. We are a democratic country, we live well,” said Elena, an accountant of about 60, who did not give her full name, after casting her vote in Sofia.
Front-runner Radev has slammed the EU’s green energy policy, which he considers naive “in a world without rules”.
He also opposes any Bulgarian efforts to send arms to help Ukraine fight back Russia’s 2022 invasion, though he has said he would not use his country’s veto to block Brussels’ decisions.
Pushing for renewed ties with Russia, Radev denounced a 10-year defence agreement between Bulgaria and Ukraine signed last month – drawing fresh accusations from opponents of being too soft on Moscow.
The ex-president also stoked outrage online for screening images at his final campaign rally of his meetings with world leaders including Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“We need to close ranks,” he told around 10,000 cheering supporters at the rally, presenting his party as a non-corrupt “alternative to the perverse cartel of old-style parties”.
Borissov, who headed the country virtually uninterrupted for close to a decade, has dismissed suggestions that Radev brings something “new”.
At a rally of his party earlier this week, he insisted GERB had “fulfilled the dreams of the 1990s” with such achievements as the country joining the eurozone this year.
‘No one to vote for’
Radev is aiming for an absolute majority in the 240-seat parliament.
A lack of trust in politics has affected voter turnout, which slumped to 39% in the last election in 2024.
But with Radev rallying voters, high turnout is expected this time, according to analyst Boryana Dimitrova from the Alpha Research polling institute.
Miglena Boyadjieva, a taxi driver of about 55, said she always votes, but the “problem is that there is no one to vote for”.
“You vote for one person and get others. The system has to change,” she told reporters.
Political parties have called on Bulgarians to show up for the polls, also to curb the impact of vote buying.
In recent weeks, police have seized more than one million euros in raids against vote buying in stepped-up operations.
They have also detained hundreds of people, including local councillors and mayors.
-
Sports11 minutes agoRyan Ward has a solid debut, but bullpen blows it again as Dodgers lose to Rockies
-
World23 minutes agoSchools, shops shut in northern Israel to protest the Lebanon ceasefire
-
News53 minutes agoCommunities launch cleanup after severe weather and tornadoes churn across Midwest
-
Detroit, MI3 hours agoGame 21: Tigers at Red Sox, Garrett Crochet battles both Detroit and the weather
-
San Francisco, CA3 hours agoWhy do gray whales keep dying in San Francisco’s waters?
-
Dallas, TX3 hours agoDallas Mavericks Owners Might Be Making Big Mistake in Search for New GM
-
Miami, FL3 hours agoDefense dominates, Mensah flashes in Miami’s spring game – The Miami Hurricane
-
Boston, MA3 hours ago
A crowd scientist is helping the Boston Marathon manage a growing field of 30,000-plus runners
