8/8/2024–|Last update: 8/8/202410:34 PM (Makkah Time)
The Wall Street Journal quoted a US official as saying that Washington warned Tehran that it could suffer a “devastating blow” if it launched a major attack on Israel, while Washington deployed F-22 aircraft to the Middle East.
However, the American official explained that Washington's message to Tehran did not include a threat to carry out an American strike against targets in Iran, but rather a warning of the consequences for its economy and the stability of its government.
The newspaper confirmed that the US administration sent a message to Iran that there is a risk of escalation if it launches a major retaliatory attack in response to the assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (agitation) Ismail Haniyeh In Tehran.
In the same context, the Axios website quoted two informed sources as saying that the commander of the US Central Command, General Michael Kurilla, visited Israel today, Thursday, for the second time in a week.
According to the website, Kurilla's visit to Tel Aviv aims to enhance coordination in anticipation of a possible attack by Hizb allah Iran on Israel.
relieve stress
For its part, the US State Department said that the ceasefire bGaza strip It would greatly ease tensions in the region.
The ministry statement added that Washington is focusing on trying to convince all parties in the region not to take further steps to escalate the conflict.
The US State Department stressed that escalating the conflict could harm the Iranian economy.
The US military announced that advanced F-22 warplanes arrived in the Middle East on Thursday.
The US Central Command said:Centcom) – on social media – that this deployment comes within the framework of “changes in the force posture in the region to mitigate the potential for regional escalation by Iran or its proxies,” without specifying the number of aircraft or their exact location.
Strengthening military presence
Washington has strengthened its military presence in the region to defend its ally Israel, after Iran and its allies vowed to respond to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, and the killing of the military commander of the Lebanese Hezbollah. Fouad Shukr With an Israeli strike near Beirut.
“This deployment is the largest test of the F-22 since it entered service in late 2005,” Bloomberg quoted Rebecca Grant, an air power analyst at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Virginia, as saying.
“The deployment of F-22s means it is a serious matter and there is the potential for large force deployments in multiple locations and with allies,” she added.
And announced The Pentagon Last week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered reinforcements including additional warships and a fighter squadron to the region.
Amid tensions and fears of escalation between Israel and Iran, 7 American personnel were injured in a missile attack that hit a base housing American forces in western Iraq earlier this week.
Washington held one of the Iraqi factions responsible for the attack, which had claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks against American forces months earlier in support of the Palestinians, following the outbreak of war between the Palestinian resistance and Israel in the Gaza Strip on October 7.