By jointly declaring commitment to Israel’s security, the United States seeks to deter Iran from retaliating against Israel and at the same time prevent the outbreak of a major regional war, Washington officials say. .
U.S. officials are still concerned about Iranian missiles and other threats in retaliation for Israel’s April 1 bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which killed an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leader and six other Guardsmen. They believe a direct attack by drones is possible within days. officials.
Israel will rely heavily on U.S.-supplied weapons in any response to an Iranian attack, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday stood in front of a U.S.-made F-15 fighter jet at Ternov Air Base in southern Israel and made a dark appearance. pointed out this. Reporter: “Whoever hurts us, we will hurt them too.”
“We stand ready to meet all the security needs of the State of Israel, both defensive and offensive,” the Israeli prime minister said.
The United States says a strong message of solidarity and support for Israel from Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday could deter the Iranian government from targeting Israel. Are expected. The strikes would mark a dangerously serious escalation in a long-simmering war that has been fought by proxy or strikes in third countries such as Lebanon and Syria.
Biden said on Wednesday that Israel could rely on “ironclad” support from the United States, and Blinken called Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant and said the United States would “respond to any threat posed by Iran and its proxies.” We also support Israel.”
Nevertheless, the United States remains cautious in its response to Israel in order to prevent an escalation into an uncontrollable conflict that could draw significant US forces to the region if Iran were to attack Israel directly. There is a high possibility that it will become.
U.S. officials say much depends on the details of Iran’s attack. If Israel intercepts an incoming missile or drone, or if it harmlessly misses its target, the Biden administration will call on the Netanyahu government not to act rashly. However, if an Iranian attack resulted in significant casualties of Israelis on Israeli soil or in Israeli missions and institutions abroad, in the administration’s eyes, Israel would be entitled to a coercive response.
The commander of U.S. Central Command, General Michael E. Kurilla, reportedly arrived in Israel on Thursday to coordinate with his Israeli counterpart a response to anticipated Iranian actions. A U.S. defense official said that, in accordance with established Pentagon practice, “we do not discuss flag officer travel for operational security.”
The possibility of conflict between Israel and Iran or its Lebanese ally Hezbollah is one reason the Biden administration is resisting calls from many in the president’s allies to limit arms supplies to Israel over its war effort in Gaza. It is. .
Meanwhile, a possible attack by Iran could also derail a long-awaited cease-fire agreement over the hostage crisis in Gaza, Washington officials said. They said Gaza Strip Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was trying to spark a regional war in the wake of the October 7 massacre of Israeli civilians, making such a conflagration more likely. They now point out that he is unlikely to accept a cease-fire agreement. More than ever.
In a possible diplomatic precursor to Iranian retaliatory strikes, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian has spent the past two days consulting with officials from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Turkey.
The Iranian minister also visited Damascus to meet his Syrian counterpart and Oman, the country most likely to act as an intermediary in sending a message to the United States. Amir Abdullahian said in Muscat that the United States “cannot shirk its responsibility for fully and absolutely supporting Israel’s collective war crimes.”
Russia and Germany have urged restraint, while Germany’s Lufthansa, one of two Western airlines serving Tehran, has suspended flights to Tehran, and the Russian government has warned Russians to fly to the Middle East. warned against traveling to
German Foreign Minister Annalena Verbock also met with Iran’s foreign minister and called on Tehran to show restraint.
The content of the Iranian call did not focus on a possible Iranian response to the Israeli attack, but rather on the need for Gulf states to do more to pressure Israel to agree to a Gaza ceasefire. was guessing.
Amir Abdullahian is planning another visit to the United Nations headquarters in New York next week, raising suspicions that an Iranian missile attack on mainland Israel is imminent. An attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights is also being discussed.
The Kremlin on Thursday called on Middle Eastern countries to exercise restraint to prevent the region from descending into chaos.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there had been no request for Russia to mediate between Israel and Iran, but said Israel’s attack on the Iranian consulate violated all principles of international law. Moscow advised its citizens not to travel to various states, including Israel, Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories. .
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Israel “must and will be punished”, days after one of his advisers said the Israeli embassy was “no longer safe”. he warned again.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz quickly replied to Khamenei with an X, warning that “if Iran attacks from its own territory, Israel will attack Iran in response.”
Inside Iran, there is a public debate among diplomats and academics about how best to respond to what they see as psychological warfare. At one point, it was reported that Iran was using the consulate attack as leverage against the United States to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a complete ceasefire with Hamas.
There are doubts in Tehran that an attack on Israel is inevitably imminent, and Biden is rather convinced that last Thursday’s bold and resolute phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led to a doubling of the number of aid trucks. Some suspect that they are trying to distract from the fact that they are connected. He entered Gaza, but the flood of humanitarian aid to Gaza that U.S. officials had requested did not materialize.
The new Israeli-promised border from Israel to northern Gaza has not yet opened, but construction has begun and the Israeli military will provide access to Israeli aid convoys by placing operational commanders in the same room as the aid. He said there was a coordination center aimed at preventing further bombings. Your contact with an agency representative has not yet been completed.
Samantha Power, head of the USAID humanitarian agency, told Congress on Wednesday that there was “credible” possibility that famine had already taken hold in some areas of Gaza, confirming earlier warnings from the U.N. agency.
