US on High Alert for Significant Attack from Iran: Israel and America Targeted

Monday, 08/04/2024 05:45 IWST

Photo: (Reuters Video Screenshot/HOUTHI MEDIA CENTER)

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The United States (US) is now on high alert. In fact, Washington is said to be actively preparing to face a “significant attack” that will occur in the next week.

This refers to Iran. Tehran was reported by the US to be planning to target Israeli or American assets in the region in response to Monday’s Israeli attack on Damascus, Syria, which killed three Iranian generals.

“Senior US officials currently believe that an attack by Iran is inevitable,” he wrote CNN Internationalquoted Monday (8/4/2024).

“This view is shared by Israeli colleagues,” it added, citing the US official.

“Both governments are doing their best to get into position before facing what is coming, because they anticipate that an Iranian attack could occur in a variety of ways and that US and Israeli assets and personnel are at risk of being targeted,” he explained again.

This was also said to have been discussed when President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Benjamin Netanyahu had a telephone conversation, last Thursday. However, until this news was released, the two governments did not know clearly when and how Iran planned to carry out a counterattack.

“A direct attack on Israel by Iran is one of the worst-case scenarios the Biden administration is preparing for, as it would guarantee a rapid escalation of an already tumultuous situation in the Middle East,” he added CNN International.

“Such an attack could cause the Israel-Hamas war to spill over into a broader regional conflict – something Biden has long wanted to avoid,” the page added.

Earlier Tuesday last week, drones attacked US troops at the al-Tanf garrison in Syria. The US claims the attack was carried out by Iranian proxies.

“We assess that al-Tanf was not the target of the drone,” a defense official said on Tuesday.

“Because we could not immediately determine the target and for the safety of the US and coalition partners, the drone was shot down,” he added.

Previously, Israel attacked the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, last Monday. A total of 11 people were killed including three generals of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), including Mohammed Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi.

Zahedi was the most high-profile Iranian target killed since US President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020. The US quickly told Iran that the Biden administration was not involved and had no prior knowledge of the attack.

“The United States was not involved in the attack and we did not know about it beforehand,” a National Security Council spokesman said early last week.

“The US has warned Iran not to use Israel’s attack on Damascus as a pretext to attack US personnel and facilities,” a US State Department spokesperson said.

It should be noted that the Middle East conflict has “heated up” oil prices again. World oil burned last week and recorded its highest position since October 2023.

Middle East geopolitics is one of the concerns that could tighten supply. Crude oil prices in last Friday’s trading, for example, recorded Brent strengthening 0.57% to a price of US$ 91.17 per barrel, while for light sweet or West Texas Intermediate (WTI) added 0.37% to US$ 86.91 per barrel.

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