President Biden has reiterated that the US will not stand by if Iran should decide to attack Israel. The attack is expected to be in retaliation for an Israeli attack on an Iranian consular building on April 1 where seven IRGC members were killed including two generals.
In a joint appearance with Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida on the White House Lawns, Biden repeated that the US’s support to Israel was “ironclad.” “We also want to address the Iranian threat to launch a significant – they’re threatening to launch a significant attack in Israel,” Biden said.
“As I told Prime Minister Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad. Let me say it again, ironclad. We’re gonna do all we can to protect Israel’s security.”
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has repeated Iran’s threat to strike back against Israel. “When they attacked our consulate area, it was like they attacked our territory,” Khamenei said, in remarks broadcast by Iranian state TV. “The evil regime must be punished, and it will be punished.”
This was the second time that the Iranian Supreme Leader had made such a threat.
Israel has not accepted responsibility for the attack but foreign minister Israel Katz stated in a post on X: “If Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran.”
Tensions are high after a possible Iranian retaliation. Germany’s Lufthansa LHAG.DE says after careful evaluation it has decided to suspend flights to and from Tehran until probably Thursday, April 11, “due to the current situation in the Middle East.” Lufthansa is one of the few Western airlines to fly directly to Tehran.
According to a Reuters report, sources said the US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk has asked officials to contact the Iranian foreign minister to convey a message that Iran should de-escalate with Israel.
Iran’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Iraq spoke on the phone with Iran’s foreign minister and discussed regional tensions.
(With inputs from Reuters)
