US calls on Iran to refrain from escalation in Middle East

The United States has conveyed a message to Iran through its diplomatic channels that it is not in Tehran’s interests to escalate the situation in the Middle East “at a critical time for the region,” the State Department said on Monday.

Washington is “engaging in intensive diplomacy around the clock” to help calm tensions amid concerns that Iran is preparing a retaliatory strike on Israeli territory, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

“All sides must refrain from escalation. All sides must take steps to reduce tensions. No one is interested in escalation. It will only lead to more conflict, more violence, more insecurity,” Blinken is quoted as saying. “Voice of America”.

Earlier, Antony Blinken discussed tensions in the Middle East with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdellatti. As the US State Department later stated, one of the goals of these conversations was for the aforementioned countries to convey Washington’s position to Iran and make it clear to Tehran that escalation of the conflict is extremely uninteresting for them.

President Joe Biden on Monday met at the White House with his national security team, including Blinken, to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East. Biden said he was briefed on measures to support Israel in the event of an attack.

According to the US news site Axios, Baidouna was told during a meeting on Monday that the timing and nature of a possible Iranian attack remained unclear. A day earlier, Antony Blinken reportedly told G7 allies that Iran and Hezbollah could attack Israel within 24 to 48 hours.

On Monday, August 5, several American service members were injured in a suspected rocket attack on a US military base in Iraq. According to some datathe strike was carried out using a Katyusha multiple rocket launcher on the Al-Asad airbase in western Iraq. At least five Americans were wounded.

• The latest round of tension is connected with the death of the political leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, recognized as terrorist by the US and the EU, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran on the night of July 31. Iran accused Israel of killing Haniyeh and threatened “harsh retaliation.” The Israeli authorities did not take responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.
• Earlier, Israel said it had killed Fuad Shukr, a commander of the Lebanon-based Islamist group Hezbollah, in a strike on Beirut. Israeli authorities blame Hezbollah for the deaths of 12 people, mostly children, in a strike on the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights on July 27.