The US government warned on Monday against a possible “series of major attacks” by Iran on Israel, possibly within days, joining European governments in calling on Tehran to “repudiate” any plans to do so.
However, Iran’s President Massoud Pezheskian stressed that his country reserves the “right to retaliate” against any attack against it, during a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who urged him to avoid military escalation.
The US “shares the concern” of Israel that an attack by Iran and its allied movements in the region is imminent, John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council of the US presidency, told reporters at the White House.
Series of significant attacks
Washington, which announced in the last 24 hours that it is further strengthening the US military presence in the Middle East, predicts, according to him, “a series of significant attacks”, which could be launched as early as “this week”, by Iran and its allies of, such as in particular the powerful Hezbollah movement of Lebanon.
The issue was raised during a telephone conversation between US President Joe Biden and the heads of state or government of France, Germany, Italy and Britain.
The five leaders demanded, in a joint statement released afterwards, that Iran not act, “withdraw” its threat to attack Israel, a move that would have “very serious consequences” for the security of the Middle East .
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer both called for a de-escalation of tensions during separate phone calls with the Iranian president.
“Iran will never give in to pressure, sanctions, coercion (…) it considers it has the right to retaliate against any aggressor, based on international norms,” the latter countered, according to a statement carried by the official Iranian news agency. IRNA after his conversation with the head of the German government.
“Negotiation consequences”
The White House noted that if an Iranian attack does take place, it “would potentially have ramifications for the negotiations” scheduled to take place as soon as Thursday, with the hope of agreeing to a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, which would be accompanied by the release of Israeli hostages in the enclave and Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons.
In a telephone conversation with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Zia al-Sudani, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken — who is reportedly preparing for a new tour in the region — emphasized once again Iraq’s “responsibility to protect the international coalition from attacks by Iranian-backed paramilitary groups.”
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the military arm of Hamas announced yesterday that militants “killed one hostage” and wounded “two female hostages” in “two separate incidents” in the Gaza Strip, where – according to the Israeli military – 111 Israeli hostages are still being held, of which at least 39 are believed to be dead.
Contact Blinken – Fidan
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on Gaza, the developments in the Middle East and two important crises on the African continent.
The head of the American diplomacy underlined the importance of the return of Hamas to the negotiation table for the cease-fire in Gaza and the release of the hostages.
As noted in a State Department announcement, “Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke today with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan about the importance of Hamas returning to negotiations on August 15 to finalize the framework for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages”.
In this context, Anthony Blinken expressed his gratitude for Turkey’s support on two key issues. The first has to do with Ankara’s support for the US-Egypt-Qatar joint statement urging the resumption of talks on Gaza, the second is related to its contribution to the release of American prisoners on August 1.
In addition, the two ministers discussed the urgent need to end the violence throughout the territory of Sudan and the importance of the participation of the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces in the talks on 14 August in Switzerland.
Also, the head of American diplomacy expressed his support for Turkey’s mediation between Ethiopia and Somalia
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