Notes from a meeting involving National Security Council officials earlier this week indicate that concerns are rising at the White House over the possibility of Iran targeting a U.S. entity ‘within days’, in retaliation for Israel's April 1 attack on its embassy in Damascus, Syria. Despite escalating tensions, Biden has reaffirmed the United States' unwavering commitment to defending Israel against Iran, emphasizing that the commitment is “ironclad.”
Tehran has made it clear that it intends to exact retribution for the Syria strike and the death of Quds Force commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi by stating that “Israel will be punished.”
The Biden administration is endeavoring to prevent a direct Iranian attack by conveying the message that Tehran should not presume that U.S. forces in the region, which have been substantially bolstered since the outset of the Gaza conflict, would remain uninvolved in a confrontation with Israel.
U.S. and allied officials are apprehensive that a retaliatory strike could take the form of a direct missile launch from Iran, rather than an attack orchestrated through a proxy such as Hezbollah. Israel has pledged to retaliate in kind to any direct strike, heightening the possibility of a regional conflict. U.S. officials now assess that the likelihood of such a conflict is greater than at any point since the onset of the Gaza conflict on October 7.
This fresh concern of a possible Iranian retaliation strike comes despite the Biden administration's efforts to distance itself from the Israeli airstrike, emphasizing that it had no prior knowledge of the operation.
On Monday night, Iran communicated to the Biden administration that if the U.S. intervened in defending Israel in the event of a retaliatory strike by Tehran, it would also consider the United States a potential target. Notes from a Tuesday NSC meeting, reviewed by The Intercept, indicate that this issue was discussed.
Four days after the Israeli airstrike, over a dozen Republican senators signed a letter criticizing the Biden administration for pursuing a “strategy of appeasement” with Iran.
The United States has reportedly engaged in discreet discussions with Iranian officials in an effort to prevent direct confrontation between the armed forces of both nations, as reported by CNN and other media outlets.
On Wednesday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared that Israel “must be punished and it shall be.” On the same day, Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz asserted that his country would retaliate with a direct attack.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated Biden’s ‘ironclad’ message on Wednesday during a call with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, affirming that the United States would stand by Israel in the face of any threats posed by Iran.
