President Joe Biden has pledged “firm” US support for Israel amid fears that Iran could launch retaliation for an attack that killed senior Iranian officials.
President Joe Biden has pledged “constant” US support for Israel amid fears that Iran could launch retaliations following an attack that killed senior Iranian officials.
The US president has warned that Iran is threatening to launch a “significant attack” after Israel attacked the Iranian consulate in Syria 10 days ago.
“We will do everything we can to protect Israel’s security,” he added.
On Wednesday (4/10), the Iranian leader said that the Israeli attack on Damascus amounts to an attack on Iran itself.
“When they attacked our consular area, it was as if they were attacking our territory,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech.
“The evil regime must be punished and will be punished.”
It is not yet clear what this retaliation would be.
If Iran attacked Israel directly, it would risk an even greater escalation of the conflict. Analysts say Iran does not have the military capacity for a confrontation of this scale.
One possible alternative is to retaliate through a group representing Iranian interests, such as Hezbollah, which often carries out smaller attacks against Israel from Lebanon.
On Sunday (4/7), an Iranian official warned that Israeli embassies are “no longer secure,” suggesting that consulates could be possible targets.
Experts have also suggested that Iran could launch a cyber attack.
Thirteen people were killed in the April 1 Israeli attack, including senior Iranian military leaders.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but it is widely believed to have carried it out.
US and Israeli forces in the region have since been placed on high alert.
Biden’s comments came as he spoke to reporters at the White House on Wednesday (4/10), alongside Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
“As I told Prime Minister Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is unshakable,” Biden said.
The American president’s speech came a day after he called for a ceasefire in Gaza and said he disagreed with Netanyahu’s war strategy.
“I think what he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with that approach,” Biden said in an interview with broadcaster Univision, recorded a week ago.
The comments also came nearly a week after a tense phone call between Biden and Netanyahu following the killing of seven aid workers in Gaza by Israeli forces.
Biden has toughened the rhetoric on Israel’s conduct in the six-month war sparked by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. She also made clear a growing frustration with Netanyahu.
US officials are trying to send the message to the Iranians that, despite differences of opinion between Biden and Netanyahu, any attack on Israel will be met with an aggressive US response.
In an effort to ease tensions, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Iraq spoke this week with their Iranian counterparts, according to the Axios news site.
Ministers were asked to deliver a message from Biden’s senior Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, on the need to defuse tensions.
According to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 33,000 people – mostly women and children – have been killed by Israeli forces.
The conflict was triggered by the killing of more than 1,200 people by Hamas in Israel and the taking of 253 hostages in an attack carried out in October last year.
Source: Terra
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