WASHINGTON — In a bid to avert wider war in the Middle East, the United States and other world leaders are urging Israel to see victory in its unprecedented military face-off with Iran over the weekend. It’s unclear whether Israel will follow that script, but Iran appears to be doing so, with its government claiming success.

After years of proxy battle, Iran launched an attack from its own territory into Israel for the first time, sending waves of land-attack cruise missiles, more than 100 ballistic missiles and a battery of “killer drones.”

Israel, in turn, mounted a formidable defense and emerged almost unscathed, intercepting or shooting down nearly all of the munitions with its air defense system and help from U.S. and British warplanes as well as Jordan. Saudi Arabia is believed to have let Israel’s allies use its airspace.

The Biden administration praised Israel’s “spectacular defeat” of the Iranian assault.

“This was an incredible success, really proving Israel’s military superiority and just as critically, their diplomatic superiority, that they have friends in the region, that they have around the world that are willing to help them,” said White House national security council spokesman John Kirby.

He noted the coalition of military support from several countries that rallied to help defend Israel despite widespread anger and international isolation over Israel’s conduct of the six-month-old war in Gaza.

The coalition is fragile. Countries such as Jordan, which acknowledged it shot down a number of what it called “flying objects” that trespassed in its airspace, want to remain in good favor with Israel and its main backer, the United States, but also cannot risk the wrath of Iran.

Moreover, U.S. officials do not want an Israeli response now to further increase bloodshed across the region.

Already, the war in Gaza has claimed thousands of Palestinian lives and cost the Biden administration political capital here and abroad.

In a telephone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Saturday, President Biden again offered “iron-clad” support in Israel’s defense, but cautioned that U.S. forces will not be part of any offensive action Israel might take against Iran, according to administration officials familiar with the conversation.

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