‘Don’t push it’: US, allies said urging Israel to limit response to expected Iran attack
US officials tell Biden timing, nature of assault on Israel unknown; Washington reportedly shifting aircraft carriers toward Israel; Iran said to reposition missile launchers
Officials in the US-led multinational coalition that is reportedly preparing to assist in repelling an expected Iranian attack have preemptively warned Israel not to respond too strongly to such an assault, according to a Tuesday report.
“Don’t push it,” the unnamed officials told Jerusalem, according to Kan news. “Think carefully before you attack in return. The goal at the end of the day is not to lead to an all-out war.”
In April, a massive drone and missile attack from Iran was foiled by a coalition that reportedly comprised Israel, the United States, Britain, France, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Kan reported on Monday that Western diplomats believe the same coalition can come together again.
Iran said Monday Israel must be “punished” for Hamas terror group leader Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran — allegedly by Israel — and has vowed to take action, raising worries that its response could bring the restive Middle East closer to all-out war.
Iranian proxy terror group Hezbollah has also threatened to hit Israel from Lebanon following the assassination of its military leader Fuad Shukr in a Beirut strike last week. Reports have indicated that the reprisals could be imminent.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed US officials, reported that Iran has in recent days been moving missile launchers and carrying out military exercises, in a signal that it may be preparing to carry out an attack in the coming days.
However, US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were told by their national security team on Monday that it was still unclear when Iran and Hezbollah were likely to launch their attacks, according to a US official.
Biden and Harris were also told that there is little information available regarding “the specifics of such an attack,” the official said.
At the conclusion of a national security meeting on Monday, the White House said Biden and Harris were briefed on US military efforts to support the defense of Israel should it be attacked again by Iran.
They also discussed efforts to de-escalate tensions, particularly through the ceasefire-hostage release deal currently on the table between Israel and Hamas, the White House said.
The statement also noted that Biden and Harris had discussed the Monday missile attack on an Iraqi base housing US military personnel, and that the US will respond “in a manner and place of our choosing.”
At least five US personnel were injured when two Katyusha rockets were fired at the al-Asad airbase in western Iraq, US and Iraqi sources said. There was no claim of responsibility, but Iraq-based militias backed by Iran have carried out multiple such attacks against US servicemembers on al-Asad and elsewhere over the past several months.
At the same time a defense official told The Washington Post that the USS Laboon and the USS Cole have moved into the Red Sea as part of a repositioning of US military assets ahead of the expected assault. The report said the vessels moved west from the Gulf of Oman, having moved out of the Persian Gulf a few days ago.
The outlet said the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier was also apparently moving toward Israel.
Monday night saw reports of explosions in Iran’s Isfahan. The semi-official agency news agency ISNA said there were three blasts, which a local governor attributed to “training activity.” In April Israel allegedly carried out a strike in Isfahan, near a secretive nuclear site, in retaliation for Iran’s direct attack on it that month.
Amid the reports of the scramble to rebuild the US-led defensive coalition, diplomats were furiously scrambling to limit the expected Iranian assault on Israel.
In Washington, Biden spoke on the phone with King Abdullah II of Jordan, whose country helped down hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles launched at Israel in April, though no discussion of Iranian tensions was mentioned in a US statement on the call.
And US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. The top American envoy has also spoken with G7 counterparts and Iraq’s prime minister.
“We are engaged in intense diplomacy, pretty much around the clock, with a very simple message — all parties must refrain from escalation,” Blinken said during a press conference.
“It’s also critical that we break this cycle by reaching a ceasefire in Gaza,” added Blinken.
The US, which does not have diplomatic ties with Iran, was also urging other countries to pass Iran a message from Washington advising against escalation, the State Department said.
Iran, for its part, insisted Monday that it is not looking to escalate regional tensions, but believes it needs to “punish” Israel to prevent further instability.
“Iran seeks to establish stability in the region, but this will only come with punishing the aggressor and creating deterrence against the adventurism of the Zionist regime,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said, adding that action from Tehran was inevitable.
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
