Verbal tensions between Israel and Iran has been escalating in recent days, with Israel and US announcing to attacks to Iran if it attacks Israel.
After Israel made an unprecedented move and attacked Iranian consulate building in Syria last week on Monday, Iranian officials vowed a harsh response to the occupying regime. Knowing that Iran is almost impossible to leave Israel’s Monday attack without response, there is now a huge sense of fear circulating in both Tel Aviv and Washington over how Tehran would retaliate.
A few hours after Israel’s Monday airstrike which killed 7 top members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed Israel and the US for the attack and promised retaliation. “When they attacked our consulate area, it was like they attacked our territory,” Khamenei said, adding that “the evil regime must be punished, and it will be punished.”
This Wednesday, Israel reacted to Iran’s threats. In a post on X in Hebrew and Persian, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that “If Iran attacks Israel from its own soil, then Israel will retaliate by attacking Iran directly.” Katz also added that “If Iran attacks from its own territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran.”
While Israel accuses Iran of using its proxy forces such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Yemen’s Ansarullah to carry out attacks against Israel, Iranian officials believe the US and Israel of using ISIS as a proxy in Syria, Iran, and Iraq. It was early in January that ISIS carried out a suicide bombing at the tomb of late IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani that killed more than 100 people in Karman.
US officials support Israel’s escalating rhetoric against Iran!
Out of fear of an Iranian response against Israel, the US has expressed full support for its ally. According to a report by the Cradle, the commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), General Erik Kurilla, will visit Israel this Friday “to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other senior army officials in anticipation of an Iranian response to last week’s bombing of Tehran’s consulate in Damascus.”
Bloomberg confirmed in a report this Sunday that the Pentagon expects major missile or drone strikes by Iran or its proxies against military and government targets in Israel within the coming days.
“Intelligence assessments from US and Israeli intelligence have determined the Iranian retaliation is more a matter of when, not if. Nevertheless, military facilities may be targeted, but civilian facilities are not expected to be and any retaliation from the Islamic Republic may not necessarily come from Lebanon,” the report noted.
Officials from the White House also expressed support for Israel in case of an attack by Iran. “The US may intervene to help Israel defend itself from an Iranian missile attack,” one US official said on Thursday. Speaking to Al Jazeera under the condition of anonymity, the US official raised the possibility of a direct confrontation not only between Iran and Israel, but also between Iran and the US.
