As Israel Braces for Iran’s Retaliation, Diplomats Scramble
Diplomats across the Middle East worked on Monday to contain escalating tensions between Israel and Iran as fears grew of a widening conflict in the region and Tehran vowed to retaliate for the killing of a senior Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, on Iranian soil.
With Israel’s war with Hamas raging in Gaza, the killing of Mr. Haniyeh last week in Tehran has intensified concerns among Arab and American officials that an even broader regional conflict could erupt. Israel has not publicly taken responsibility for the killing, but Iran and Hamas have both blamed Israel, and American intelligence has assessed that Israel was behind it.
Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who was briefed on the country’s air-defense readiness on Monday during a visit to a military command center, said, according to a government statement, “We must be prepared for anything — including a swift transition to offense.”
In a separate statement, the Israeli government said Mr. Gallant had briefed the U.S. defense secretary, Lloyd J. Austin III, overnight on Israel’s “readiness to defend Israel against potential threats posed by Iran and its proxies.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel would “exact a heavy price for any act of aggression against us, from whatever quarter.”
Israel faces threats of retaliation not just from Iran, but also from Iranian-allied groups like the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah and Israel continued to trade cross-border fire on Monday, with an Israeli airstrike killing two people in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health.
But those attacks did not appear to be part of the major retaliation that Hezbollah had threatened in the wake of an Israeli strike last week that killed Fuad Shukr, one of the group’s senior commanders, in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
In anticipation of attacks, the commander of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, traveled to Israel on Monday to discuss “joint preparations in the region, as part of the response to threats in the Middle East,” according to an Israeli statement. He met with the Israeli military’s chief of the general staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the statement added.
President Biden also convened his national security team to discuss developments in the region and spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan, according to a White House statement.
“The leaders discussed their efforts to de-escalate regional tensions, including through an immediate cease-fire and hostage release deal,” the statement said, referring to the phone call between Mr. Biden and the king.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken told reporters that American officials were engaged in diplomacy around the clock to try to reduce tensions. “All parties must refrain from escalation,” he said. “All parties must take steps to ease tensions. Escalation is not in anyone’s interests.”
On Sunday, the Jordanian foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, traveled to Tehran for meetings with his Iranian counterpart. Jordan is a close Western ally and helped intercept Iranian missiles and drones in April during tit-for-tat attacks between Iran and Israel.
Foreign ministers from Islamic countries are to gather in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for an “extraordinary” meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation that was called to discuss “the continued crimes of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people,” including Mr. Haniyeh’s killing, the organization said in a statement.
Iran requested the meeting, according to a spokesman for the country’s foreign ministry, Nasser Kanaani. During a news conference in Tehran, Mr. Kanaani blamed Israel for the escalating tensions in the region, according to the state-affiliated Iranian Students’ News Agency.
In case of a wider escalation, the World Health Organization said, it delivered 32 tons of emergency medical supplies to Lebanon.
Russia has also sent a high-level official to the region: Sergei K. Shoigu, secretary of the Security Council. Mr. Shoigu, a former defense minister, arrived in Tehran on Monday, though the purpose of the visit was not clear. Mr. Shoigu met with Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian; the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council; and the commander of the armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, who is leading the planning for military strikes on Israel.
“We are ready for full cooperation with Iran on regional issues,” said Mr. Shoigu, according to Iran’s state media. He also said that those responsible for the killing of Mr. Haniyeh wanted to spread chaos in the region, state media reported.
The diplomatic maneuvers came as a rocket attack targeting U.S. personnel housed at a base in Iraq’s western desert injured several American troops late on Monday, according to U.S. defense officials.
The attack on Ain al Asad Air Base resembled previous ones carried out by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups, which have targeted the base repeatedly over the past years and intensified after Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza began in October.
A White House statement said that Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had been briefed on the attack at Al Asad Air Base and were discussing steps to defend American forces “and respond to any attack against our personnel in a manner and place of our choosing.”
Mr. Haniyeh was killed by an explosive device hidden in a heavily guarded complex in Tehran where he was staying, less than a day after the Israeli strike killed Mr. Shukr. Israel said Mr. Shukr had overseen Hezbollah’s campaign against the country, including a rocket attack that killed 12 children and teenagers in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
There are already signs that the killings — and fears of the retaliatory violence they could unleash — could push Gulf governments closer to Iran and further from Israel as they seek to de-escalate tensions that threaten their own security.
On Friday, Anwar Gargash, a senior adviser to the ruler of the United Arab Emirates, expressed his condolences to Mr. Haniyeh’s family members in a social media post and thanked neighboring Qatar for hosting his funeral — an unusual statement from a government that despises Hamas and led a diplomatic push for Arab countries to establish relations with Israel.
“The Emirates rejects all forms of political violence and assassination,” Mr. Gargash wrote, adding that “there is no path to stability except through justice, wisdom and dialogue.”
Saudi Arabia re-established relations with Iran, its regional rival, last year, citing a desire to open direct channels of communication and reduce political tensions. The planned meeting of Islamic foreign ministers on Wednesday in Jeddah could showcase that trend, particularly if Iran and other countries in attendance issue a shared statement rebuking Israel.
Reporting was contributed by Johnatan Reiss, Thomas Fuller, Michael D. Shear, Eric Schmitt, Alissa J. Rubin, Helene Cooper and Edward Wong.
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