Photo: Aircraft carrier “Dwight Eisenhower” enters the Persian Gulf. November 26, 2023. (Information Technician Second Class Ruskin Naval/U.S. Navy via AP)
The United States expects Iran could attack Israel, but the attack would not be large enough for Washington to intervene in the conflict, said on Thursday evening, April 11, a source in the White House, reports Reuters.
Earlier, the White House said that Washington does not want the conflict to spread in the Middle East and the United States assured Iran of its non-involvement in the airstrike on Damascus, as a result which killed a senior Iranian military commander.
The US administration warned Iran against using the attack as a pretext for further escalation in the region.
A bomb was allegedly dropped on the Iranian embassy in Damascus on Monday, April 8, by an Israeli warplane. The attack killed a senior Iranian general and six other Iranian soldiers, raising tensions in the region as the Gaza war continues. Iran has vowed to take revenge on Israel for the attack.
The destroyed building of the Iranian consulate in Damascus. April 2, 2024 REUTERS/Firas Makdesi
Iranian sources told Reuters that Tehran has signaled to Washington that it will respond to Israel's attack on the embassy in Syria in a way that avoids a major escalation and will not act hastily as Tehran insists on meeting its demands, including a truce in Gaza.
The US military is on high alert for possible Iranian retaliatory strikes, and US diplomats are working to reduce tensions.
BAGNET recalls that the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing, according to Israeli estimates, 1,200 people. Israel's military operation against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has since killed more than 33,000 people, according to the local health ministry, displacing nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million people, causing a humanitarian crisis and leading to accusations of genocide that Israel denies.
Pro-Iranian groups have declared support for the Palestinians, launching attacks from Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq. Tehran has so far avoided direct confrontation with Israel or the United States, while declaring support for its allies in the Middle East.
Prepared by: Sergei Daga