U.S. President Joe Biden is set to discuss tensions in the Middle East with his national security team Monday, and to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, while Israeli leaders warn they will exact a “heavy price” if attacked, amid concerns about potential actions launched by Iran or its proxies in the region.
The U.S.-Jordan talks come a day after Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi traveled to Iran where he urged an end to escalation and for the region to live in “peace, security and stability.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke Sunday with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant, reiterating “ironclad U.S. support for Israel’s security and right to self-defense against threats from Iran” and Iranian proxies such as the Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Yemen-based Houthis.
“They discussed U.S. force posture moves that the Department is taking to bolster protection for U.S. forces, support the defense of Israel, and deter and de-escalate broader tensions in the region,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
The United States is moving an aircraft carrier group and more air assets to the region, in a move the Pentagon announced Friday.
Jonathan Finer, the White House National Security Council deputy adviser, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” show, “Our goal is de-escalation. Our goal is deterrence. Our goal is defense of Israel.”
“We are preparing for every possibility,” Finer told ABC’s “This Week” show, adding, “We do not think a regional war is in anyone’s interest.”
The developments follow last week’s Israeli airstrike on a Beirut building that killed a Hezbollah commander, Fouad Shukur, and the assassination hours later of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in a killing that Iran blamed on Israel.
France warned of “a highly volatile” situation, while the United States, France, Canada, Jordan and Britain all told their citizens to leave Lebanon. Several airlines suspended or curtailed service to the region.
After Haniyeh was assassinated last week in Tehran in a guesthouse he was staying in shortly after attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a statement, “We consider it our duty to take vengeance.” He ordered a direct strike on Israel in retaliation for the killing of Haniyeh, according to a New York Times report citing three Iranian officials on background.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told “Fox News Sunday,” “When the supreme leader says he’s going to respond, we have to take that seriously. We have to make darn sure we’re ready.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Iran and its proxies were seeking to surround Israel “in a stranglehold of terrorism.”
“We are determined to stand against them on every front and in every arena – near and far,” Netanyahu said. “Whoever seeks to harm us will pay a very heavy price.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Sunday with the G7 foreign ministers to discuss the urgent need to calm tensions in the Mideast.
A State Department spokesperson said Blinken and his counterparts “reiterated their commitment to Israel’s security and urged maximum restraint from all parties to keep the conflict from escalating.”
The Israeli military said Monday it worked to intercept a number of suspicious aerial targets that originated in Lebanon, with one falling in northern Israel and injuring two Israeli military personnel.
Israel and Hezbollah have traded near-daily fire since the Israeli-Hamas war started in Gaza nearly 10 months ago.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for its Oct. 7 terror attack that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of 250 hostages. Israel’s counteroffensive has killed at least 39,580 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
Haniyeh, Hamas’ political chief, was the group’s lead negotiator in efforts to reach an agreement on an elusive cease-fire. His killing raised questions about the continued viability of efforts by Qatari, Egyptian and U.S. mediators to broker a truce and exchange of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners jailed by Israel.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters
