President Joe Biden has pledged Israel’s “steadfast” US support amid fears Iran could launch reprisals following an attack that killed top Iranian officials.
The American president 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 (10), Iran’s leader said that the Israeli attack on Damascus was equivalent to an attack on Iran itself.
“The evil regime must be punished and will be punished.”
It is not yet clear what this reprisal would be.
If Iran attacks 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 magnitude.
One possible alternative is to get revenge through a group that represents Iranian interests, such as Hezbollah, which frequently carries out smaller attacks against Israel from Lebanon.
On Sunday (7), an Iranian official warned that Israel’s embassies were “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 is widely considered to have carried out the attack.
US and Israeli forces in the region have been placed on high alert since then.
Biden’s comments came as he spoke to journalists at the White House on Wednesday (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 unyielding,” Biden declared.
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 sharpened rhetoric about Israel’s conduct in the six-month war triggered by the Hamas attack on October 7. He also made clear a growing frustration with Netanyahu.
US officials are trying to send a message to Iranians
US officials are trying to send a message to Iranians that despite differences of opinion between Biden and Netanyahu, any attack on Israel will meet 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 news website Axios.
The 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 — were killed by Israeli forces.
The conflict was triggered by the murder of more than 1,200 people by Hamas in Israel and the taking of 253 hostages in the attack carried out in October last year.
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