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Iran sent a message to the Biden administration through several Arab countries earlier this week, saying if the US gets involved in the fighting between Israel and Iran, American forces in the region will be attacked, three US officials told Axios.
Government media in Iran was mainly silent on Friday about the issue of an attack on Israel. While in previous days officials and clerics regularly made remarks about how to retaliate against Israel, there was virtually nothing in Tehran media today.
However, commentators and some regime insiders continued to tweet on the subject. Notable was a tweet by conservative commentator Ahmad Zeidabadi who rhetorically asked the country’s highest authorities if they were planning to attack. If so, he asked, how they can be sure Israel will not respond. What will they do if a response comes?
Another retaliation will lead to a “destructive and needless war,” Zeidabadi said.
Washington-based Al-Monitor cited a senior Israeli political source as saying that if Iran employs its proxies — among them Hezbollah in Lebanon or the Houthi rebels in Yemen — to launch rockets, cruise missiles or drones at Israel, “the event could be contained.”
“But if Iran launches missiles at Israel from its territory, there will undoubtedly be a broad Israeli response against Iran itself, which could lead to a comprehensive and rapid deterioration into war in the Middle East.”
“Western intelligence agencies apparently have intelligence indicating that the Iranian attack will take place in the coming days,” the source told Al-Monitor, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “The effort now is to clarify to Iran the outlines that will allow the sides to exit this event without deteriorating into all-out war.”
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had yet to decide among the various options presented to him.
France has issued a travel advisory today, urging its citizens “imperatively” to refrain from traveling to Iran – as well as nearby Lebanon, Israel, and the Palestinian territories.
The warning comes amid Tehran's threats of retaliation, after a widely-believed Israeli attack on Iranian consulate premises in Damascus on April 1, which killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guards Commanders.
French Foreign Minister, Stephane Sejourne, has meanwhile called for the evacuation of the family members of French diplomats in Iran – and for no French civil servants to be deployed to any of the listed countries.
Britain, Canada, and Australia have also issued travel advisories urging their citizens to refrain from visiting Iran, Israel, the West Bank, and Lebanon.
This week, German airline Lufthansa extended its suspension of its flights to Tehran due to the situation in the Middle East.
The conflict ignited by Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7 has intensified regional volatility to levels not seen in years – and has brought the shadow war between Iran and Israel to the forefront today.
