Israel said Friday its military was on high alert, while U.S. officials worked to prepare military assets and regional partners to stop another attack that some fear could be broader and more complex than Iran’s in April. In that attack, Iran fired more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel, but only “after sending its response to diplomats in advance, giving Israel and the United States time to prepare. Most of the projectiles were shot down before they reached Israel,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to the newspaper, this time Israel and its allies are operating in a “vacuum,” as American and Arab diplomats working to avoid a spiral of violence are getting angry silence from Iran and its Lebanese militia allies, who are preparing to respond to the assassinations in Tehran and Beirut.
The Wall Street Journal quoted an informed Iranian diplomat as saying that attempts by various countries to persuade Tehran not to escalate were and will remain futile in light of the recent Israeli attacks.
The diplomat added: “There is no point in that..Israel has crossed all red lines. Our response will be swift and heavy.”
“Lack of communication means the next step on the escalation ladder could be miscalculated,” said Andrew Tabler, a former Middle East director at the White House National Security Council, and the result could be a spiral that is difficult to control rather than a limited response like the one that occurred in April.
A US official said the Biden administration was taking a cautious approach at the moment, with no indication that Iran had made a decision on whether or how to respond, and predicted that any response would likely be a few days to a week away.
It is worth noting that these statements come in the wake of American and Israeli reports that Iran and its allies will launch an attack on Israel, in response to the assassination of Haniyeh in the Iranian capital, Tehran.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had stressed that avenging Ismail Haniyeh’s blood “is our duty because the assassination took place on our soil.”
“The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime targeted our dear guest in our home, and in doing so, it brought upon itself the most severe punishment,” he said in a message of condolence for the assassination of Haniyeh, published on Khamenei’s official website.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday evening, citing three informed Iranian officials, that Khamenei ordered a direct strike on Israel in response to the assassination of Haniyeh.
CNN quoted the US Department of Defense last Thursday as saying that Iran and its allies will launch a large-scale attack on Israel within 72 hours.
While Israel has not announced about adopting this assassination, and refused to comment on the incident publicly.، Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech on Wednesday evening that the Israeli army had dealt decisive blows in recent days to the Palestinian factions movement, the Houthis and the Lebanese factions movement.
The Israeli army announced the assassination of the senior leader of the Lebanese factions movement, Fouad Shukr, in response to the killing of a number of children and civilians as a result of a missile falling in the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Golan, which the Israeli army attributed to the Palestinian factions movement, while the latter denied responsibility, confirming that it was an Israeli interceptor missile.
Following this, the Secretary-General of the Lebanese Factions Movement confirmed that Israel and those behind it must “wait for our upcoming response” to the assassination of Fouad Shukr, stressing that “there is no discussion or debate on this.”
Source: The Wall Street Journal + RT
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2024-08-04 04:47:58
