American intelligence officials said this week that it feared a significant attack against Israel following a strike in Damascus, Syria last week that killed a number of senior Iranian officials. The news also comes as the United States criticized Israel over the current conflict in Gaza.
The United States believes that Iran will retaliate for the Israeli airstrike that killed a number of members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The strike occurred in a building next to the Iranian consulate.
The country’s ambassador to Syria said that Israel had “gone beyond the red line.”
“Iran has never left any crimes of the Zionist regime without an answer. So, definitely, the Zionists and their allies know that in proportion to the crime they have committed, they need to await a proper response on the basis of Iran’s choosing at the right place and time,” he said.
It was not clear what form the Iranian attack could take. American intelligence officials said that it could include a number of different forms, including direct drone and missile strikes. It could also include attacks from a number of Iran-backed militias in the Middle East.
Iran has also threatened the United States over the Israeli strike, stating that it held Washington at least partially responsible.
“The Islamic Republic has Warned the United States not to fall into Netanyahu's Trap, to Step Aside so as to not get Hit,” is what the Office of Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi says was Expressed within a Written Statement recently Delivered to the United States following a… pic.twitter.com/i3kVk2Rk9x
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) April 5, 2024
The Iranian government released a video showing a number of missiles Friday, implying that a retaliatory strike would soon take place.
The Biden administration has taken a number of positions to criticize Israel in the last week. Washington announced a plan to label products produced in Jewish settlements in the West Bank with a special label.
Furthermore, the Biden administration is pressuring the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. President Joe Biden and the prime minister spoke last week in what was described as a testy exchange.
The White House stepped up its criticism of Israel following a strike on an aid convoy in Gaza that killed several civilians. The Israeli government has accepted responsibility for the strike and fired several officials as a result.
