Iran has threatened to target US forces in the Middle East if Washington helps Israel defend itself against any retaliatory Iranian action after its deadly airstrike in Damascus.
According to The Intercept’s report, “on Monday night, Iran conveyed to the Biden administration that if it involved itself in defending Israel were Tehran to undertake a retaliatory strike, it would consider the United States a viable target as well.”
Israel targeted Iran's consulate building in Damascus on April 1, killing 7 IRGC forces, including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the highest-ranking commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force (IRGC-QF) in Lebanon and Syria. Since then, senior Iranian officials have vowed revenge against Israel.
The US National Security Council held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss Tehran’s threats, added The Intercept which claims to have reviewed notes of the meeting.
US officials have time and again stressed that Washington had no part in Israel’s strike on Iran’s consulate and seeks no further escalations in the region. However, President Joe Biden has vowed Washington’s “ironclad” support for Israel in the case of Iran’s reprisals.
"We're going to do all we can to protect Israel's security," he stressed on Wednesday.
On Monday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian claimed that the US had given Israel the green light to strike Iran’s consulate in Damascus.
While failing to provide any evidence for the allegation, Amir-Abdollahian said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “would not have been able to do such a thing without the US green light.”
