Diplomats across the Middle East worked Monday to contain rising tensions between Israel and Iran as fears grew of a wider conflict in the region and Tehran vowed retaliation for the killing of a senior Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, on Iranian soil.
With Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza in full swing, the killing of Haniyeh last week in Tehran has heightened concerns among Arab and U.S. officials that an even broader regional conflict could erupt. Israel has not publicly claimed responsibility for the killing, but Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel, and U.S. intelligence has assessed that Israel was behind it.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who was briefed on the country’s air defense readiness on Monday during a visit to a military command center, was quoted in a government statement as saying, “We must be prepared for everything, including a quick move to the offensive.”
In a separate statement, the Israeli government said Gallant had briefed U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III overnight on Israel’s “preparedness to defend itself against potential threats posed by Iran and its proxies.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel “will exact a heavy price for any act of aggression against us, no matter where it comes from.”
Israel faces threats of retaliation not only from Iran, but also from Iran-allied groups such as the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah and Israel continued to exchange cross-border fire on Monday, with an Israeli airstrike killing two people in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
But those attacks did not appear to be part of the larger retaliation Hezbollah had threatened to carry out following an Israeli strike last week that killed Fuad Shukr, one of the group’s top commanders, in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
In anticipation of attacks, the commander of the US Central Command, General Michael Erik Kurilla, traveled to Israel on Monday to discuss “joint preparations in the region, as part of the response to threats in the Middle East,” according to an Israeli statement. He met with the Israeli army’s chief of general staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the statement added.
President Biden also convened his national security team to discuss developments in the region and spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan, according to a White House statement.
“The leaders discussed their efforts to reduce regional tensions, including through an immediate ceasefire and an agreement for the release of hostages,” the statement said, referring to the phone call between Biden and the king.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken told reporters that American officials were engaged in around-the-clock diplomacy to try to reduce tensions. “All parties must refrain from escalation,” he said. “All parties must take steps to ease tensions. Escalation is in no one’s interest.”
On Friday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi traveled to Tehran to meet with his Iranian counterpart. Jordan is a close Western ally and helped intercept Iranian missiles and drones in April during retaliatory strikes between Iran and Israel.
Foreign ministers of Islamic countries will meet in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for an “extraordinary” meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation that was called to discuss “the ongoing crimes of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people,” including the killing of Haniyeh, the organization said in a statement.
Iran requested the meeting, according to a spokesman for the country’s foreign ministry, Nasser Kanaani. During a news conference in Tehran, Kanaani blamed Israel for rising tensions in the region, according to the state-affiliated Iranian Students News Agency.
In case of a wider escalation, the World Health Organization said it has delivered 32 tons of emergency medical supplies to Lebanon.
Russia also sent a senior official to the region: Sergei K. Shoigu, secretary of the Security Council. Shoigu, a former defense minister, arrived in Tehran on Monday, though the purpose of the visit was unclear. Shoigu met with Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian; the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council; and the commander of the armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, who leads the planning of military strikes against Israel.
“We are ready to fully cooperate with Iran on regional issues,” Shoigu said, according to Iranian state media. He also said those responsible for Haniyeh’s assassination wanted to spread chaos in the region, state media reported.
The diplomatic maneuvers came as a rocket attack targeting U.S. personnel housed at a base in Iraq’s western desert wounded several American soldiers on Monday night, according to U.S. defense officials.
The attack on Ain al-Asad Air Base was similar to previous ones carried out by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups, which have attacked the base repeatedly in recent years and intensified after Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza began in October.
A White House statement said Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had been briefed on the attack at Al Asad Air Base and were discussing steps to defend U.S. forces “and respond to any attack against our personnel in a manner and location of our choosing.”
Haniyeh was killed by an explosive device hidden in a heavily guarded compound in Tehran where he was staying, less than a day after the Israeli strike killed Shukr. Israel said Shukr had overseen Hezbollah’s campaign against the country, including a rocket attack that killed 12 children and teenagers in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
There are already signs that the killings, and fears of retaliatory violence they could trigger, could push Gulf governments closer to Iran and further away from Israel as they seek to reduce tensions that threaten their own security.
On Friday, Anwar Gargash, a senior adviser to the UAE ruler, expressed condolences to Haniyeh’s relatives in a social media post and thanked neighboring Qatar for hosting his funeral, an unusual statement from a government that despises Hamas and led a diplomatic push for Arab countries to establish relations with Israel.
“The Emirates rejects all forms of political violence and murder,” Gargash wrote, adding that “there is no path to stability except through justice, wisdom and dialogue.”
Saudi Arabia reestablished relations with Iran, its regional rival, last year, citing a desire to open direct channels of communication and reduce political tensions. A planned meeting of Islamic foreign ministers on Wednesday in Jeddah could show that trend, especially if Iran and other countries present issue a joint statement rejecting Israel.
Information was contributed by Johnatan Reiss, Thomas Fuller, Michael D. Shear, Eric Schmitt, Alissa J. Rubin, Helene Cooper and Edward Wong.
