US prepared for Iranian retaliation on Israel, White House says

The U.S. is preparing for Iran or its proxies to attack Israel as soon as this week, according to White House national security spokesman John Kirby. He confirmed Monday that the U.S. is increasing its military presence in the region and said that President Joe Biden had talked with European allies about support for Israel.

It comes after Israeli officials said they expected to come under attack within days, in retaliation for the recent killing of key Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. ‘We share the same concerns and expectations that our Israeli counterparts have with respect to potential timing … could be this week,’ said Kirby on a briefing call with reporters.

‘We’re continuing to watch it very, very closely, and it is difficult to ascertain at this particular time if there is an attack by Iran and or its proxies, what that could look like, but we have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks.’ The region has been on a knife edge since Israel killed a senior Hezbollah leader in Beirut last month. A day later Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was assassinated in Tehran.

Iran holds Israel responsible and has promised revenge. ‘We obviously don’t want to see Israel have to defend itself against another onslaught, like they did in April. But, if that’s what comes at them, we will continue to help them defend themselves,’ Kirby added.

On Sunday, the Pentagon announced it was sending a a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and that the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group was accelerating its deployment to the region. On Monday, Biden spoke with the leaders of the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and France as concerns escalated.

‘We expressed our support for the defense of Israel against Iranian aggression and against attacks by Iran-backed terrorist groups,’ they said in a joint statement. ‘We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place.’

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian and urged him to hold back. ‘The prime minister said that he was deeply concerned by the situation in the region and called on all parties to de-escalate and avoid further regional confrontation,’ said a spokeswoman.

“There was a serious risk of miscalculation and now was the time for calm and careful consideration, the Prime Minister said. He called on Iran to refrain from attacking Israel, adding that war was not in anyone’s interests.’ The region was plunged into conflict on October 7 last week when Iran-backed gunmen from Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1200 people.

Since then almost 40,000 people have died in Israeli attacks on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza. Talks are due to resume this week aimed at securing a ceasefire and the return of remaining hostages held by Hamas.

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