By Dave DeCamp / Antiwar.com
The US and its allies believe Iranian retaliation for the Israeli bombing of Iran’s consulate in Syria is imminent, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Sources told Bloomberg that, based on US and Israeli intelligence, Iran or its allies in the region could launch a major missile and drone attack on military and government targets inside Israel in the coming days.
Axios reported something similar, saying Israel is expecting a direct Iranian attack on its territory launched from Iran’s soil. Israeli sources told the outlet that Israel would respond by launching direct attacks on Iran, which would likely require US support.
A major Iranian response could be exactly what Israel wants, as it appears to be trying to provoke a wider regional war to get the US to intervene directly.
The Axios report said that the top US military commander in the Middle East, Gen. Erik Kurilla, is due to visit Israel on Thursday to coordinate on the potential Iranian attack. President Biden signaled he would directly intervene if Iran attacks Israel in a warning to Tehran he issued on Wednesday.
“We also want to address the Iranian threat to launch a significant – they’re threatening to launch a significant attack in Israel,” Biden said. “As I told Prime Minister Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad. Let me say it again, ironclad. We’re gonna do all we can to protect Israel’s security.”
Israel has a history of covert attacks inside Iran and killing Iranians in airstrikes in Syria. Iran is usually restrained in its responses to Israeli attacks, but the bombing of an Iranian diplomatic facility marked a huge escalation. The airstrikes killed a senior Quds Force commander, another Iranian general, and five other members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
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Dave DeCamp
Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.