US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Iraqi's Deputy Prime Minister are calling for restraint from Israel after Iran launched an attack involving hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. "In the 36 hours since, we have been coordinating a diplomatic response to seek to prevent escalation, strength and wisdom need to be....the different sides of the same coin," said Blinken as he met with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Tamim at the State Department. "I've been in close communication with counterparts in the region and we will continue to do so in the hours and days ahead. We don't seek escalation, but will continue to support the defense of Israel and to protect our personnel in the region." The Iranian attack on Saturday, less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria that killed two Iranian generals in an Iranian consular building, marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. An Israeli military spokesman said that 99% of the drones and missiles launched by Iran were intercepted. Israel and Iran have been on a collision course throughout Israel’s six-month war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. The war erupted after Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups backed by Iran, carried out a devastating cross-border attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others. An Israeli offensive in Gaza has caused widespread devastation and killed over 33,700 people, according to local health officials. "We call on all parties for self-restraint and respect the rules and also international norms that we set, that these sessions, which will be the beginning of our setting, the foundations to work effectively through this higher committee so that we can go we will continue our ongoing bilateral relations and meetings, " said Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Tamim. Blinken's meeting comes on the same day as US President Joe Biden will meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani. The U.S. and Iraq began formal talks in January about ending the coalition created to help the Iraqi government fight the Islamic State, with some 2,000 U.S. troops remaining in the country under an agreement with Baghdad. Iraqi officials have periodically called for a withdrawal of those forces. The two countries have a delicate relationship due in part to Iran’s considerable sway in Iraq, where a coalition of Iran-backed groups brought al-Sudani to power in October 2022. The U.S. in recent months has urged Iraq to do more to prevent attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria that have further roiled the Middle East in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.