Iranian officials are consulting today with representatives of Iran’s regional allies from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen to consider possible retaliation against Israel after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya in Tehran, five sources told Reuters.
The region faces the risk of widening conflict between Israel, Iran and its allied forces following the assassination of Ismail Haniya in Tehran on Wednesday and the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander on Tuesday in an Israeli strike on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital Beirut.
The Chania funeral
Today a funeral ceremony was held with presidential honors in Tehran for Ismail Haniya. Iran has stressed that it has a duty to avenge the assassination of the Palestinian leader that took place while he was a guest in Tehran.
At the same time, the US and France are engaged in a diplomatic barrage to persuade Tehran to moderate its reactions in order to avoid a generalized war.
The US is massing its fleet in the region
However, at the same time the US has gathered 12 warships in the area.
They are the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and its accompanying warships, and the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group, a three-ship amphibious group that includes more than 4,000 Marines and sailors, the Washington Post reports.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt was in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday with six US destroyers: USS Cole, USS John S. McCain, USS Daniel Inouye, USS Russell, USS Michael Murphy and USS Laboon.
In the eastern Mediterranean were the three amphibious ships – USS Wasp, USS Oak Hill and USS New York – and two destroyers, USS Bulkeley and USS Roosevelt.
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