The US is on high alert and preparing for a “significant” attack by Iran that may occur within the next week targeting Israeli or American assets in the region. The planned attack would come in response to Israel’s raid on the Iranian embassy in Syria, which killed one of the country’s top commanders.
Senior US officials and their Israeli counterparts believe an attack by Iran is “inevitable,” according to CNN. As of Friday, the two nations had no idea when or how Iran intended to respond, according to the official.
General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a key Iranian Quds Force commander, was killed in an airstrike on the Iranian diplomatic facility in Syria’s capital.
This was the most high-profile killing since Major General Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the Quds Force, was assassinated by a US drone attack in 2020.
Two officials from US President Joe Biden’s government have expressed concerns about Iranian retaliation in Israel, stating that the targets will mostly be military and intelligence targets rather than civilians, according to NBC News.
Officials also stated that the Biden administration has begun to evaluate possible options for responding to potential attacks by Iran.
In a strong message to the US, a top advisor to Iran’s President, Ebrahim Raisi urged Washington not to interfere in the conflict between his country and Israel.
In a post on X, Mohammad Jamshidi, President Raisi’s Deputy Chief of Staff, wrote, ” In a written message, the Islamic Republic of Iran warns US leadership not to get dragged in Netanyahu’s trap for the US: Stay away so you won’t get hurt.”
“In response, the US asked Iran not to target American facilities,” the official said.
“Don’t think about coming after us”- US to Iran
In response to Mohammad Jamshidi’s warning, a US State Department official stated that Washington “responded by warning Iran not to use this (Syria attack) as a pretext to attack US personnel and facilities”.
In a brief comment to CNN, the official added, “As Iran noted publicly, we received a message from them. We responded by warning Iran not to use this as a pretext to attack US personnel and facilities. We did not ‘ask.”
“Don’t think about coming after us,” he said, without providing details on how the administration sent its response.
Meanwhile, Iran has placed its military troops on “full high alert” amid concerns of a retaliatory attack against Israel in reaction to the latter’s raid on the Islamic Republic’s consulate in Syria, two officials told The New York Times.
The officials stated that Iran has decided to “directly attack Israel” in retribution for the Syrian airstrike and to “create deterrence.”
On Thursday, US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the likelihood of an Iranian attack.
NBC News quoted a senior administration official as saying that the US and Israel have been in “regular and continuous contact” since the two presidents’ call.
“The US fully supports the defense of Israel against threats from Iran. I will not go beyond that given the sensitivity of the topic and information based on intelligence sources,” the official stated.