Biden warns Iran not to attack Israel over Syria strike
US president says he expects Tehran’s retaliation sooner, rather than later, and vows to defend ally
US President Joe Biden has said he expects Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed.
Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden said simply, “Don’t,” and he underscored Washington’s commitment to defend Israel.
“We are devoted to the defence of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said.
Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later”. He spoke to reporters at the White House after a virtual speech to a civil rights conference
Israel on Friday braced for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of retaliation for the killing earlier this month of a senior officer in Iran’s embassy in Damascus.
Countries including India, France, Poland and Russia have warned their citizens against travel to the region, already on edge over the war in Gaza, now in its seventh month. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the threat from Iran was real and viable.
The US also rushed warships into position to protect Israel and American forces in the region, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The moves by the US that are part of an effort to avoid a wider conflict in the Middle East came after a warning from a person familiar with the matter about the timing and location of the potential Iranian attack, the newspaper said.
However, a person briefed by the Iranian leadership said that while plans to attack were being discussed, no final decision had been made, the Journal said.
The Israeli military said it had not issued fresh instructions to civilians, but asked people to remain vigilant.
“Over the past day, the military has conducted a situational assessment and approved plans for a range of scenarios following reports and statements on an Iranian attack,” chief military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement.
Israel’s foreign ministry did not comment on reports that some Israeli diplomatic missions had been partially evacuated and security stepped up.
“The revenge will come,” wrote Israel’s largest daily newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth. “For the moment, the premise is that it will be very soon, in the next few days.”
Israel did not claim responsibility for the air strike on April 1 that killed Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ overseas Quds Force, and six other officers as they attended a meeting in the Damascus embassy compound.
But Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Israel “must be punished and shall be” for an operation he said was equivalent to an attack on Iranian soil.
“It’s going to be very difficult for Iran not to retaliate,” said Raz Zimmt, senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies.
“I still believe that Iran doesn’t want to engage in full-scale, direct military confrontation against Israel, and certainly not with the United States. But it has to do something.”
On Friday, both Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and army chief General Herzi Halevi had meetings with General Michael Kurilla, the visiting head of US Central Command, to coordinate a possible response.
Iranian sources and diplomats from the US, Israel’s protector, said Tehran had signalled to Washington that it wished to avoid escalation. But the risk remained that any response might spin out of control.
Since Iran viewed the embassy attack as equivalent to an attack on its own territory, Zimmt said a direct attack on Israeli soil by Iran itself rather than a proxy such as Hezbollah in Lebanon was a real possibility.
Iran has missiles capable of hitting Israel directly and in recent weeks, Israel has bolstered its air defences, which have intercepted thousands of rockets fired by Hamas from Gaza and by Hezbollah from Lebanon.
The Israeli military has called back reservists in preparation for any escalation along its northern border.