Washington
CNN
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The United States is on high alert as Iran targets Israeli and American assets in the region as early as next week in response to an Israeli military attack in Damascus that killed top Iranian military commanders on Monday. The United States is actively preparing for a “significant” attack that could be carried out against the United States. A senior administration official told CNN.
U.S. officials now believe an Iranian attack is “inevitable,” a view echoed by Israel, the official said. Both governments anticipate that an Iranian attack could unfold in a variety of ways, putting both U.S. and Israeli assets and personnel at risk of being targeted. We are working hard to improve our readiness.
A future attack on Iran was a major topic of discussion during Thursday’s phone call between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
As of Friday, the two governments did not know when or how Iran planned to strike back, the official said.
A direct attack on Israel by Iran is one of the worst-case scenarios the Biden administration is preparing for, ensuring a rapid escalation of the already chaotic situation in the Middle East. Such an attack could escalate the war between Israel and Hamas into a broader regional conflict, something Biden has long sought to avoid.
It’s been two months since Iranian proxies attacked U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, a period of relative stability after months of drone, rocket and missile launches targeting U.S. facilities. Ta. The only exception was on Tuesday, when U.S. forces shot down a drone near the al-Tanf garrison in Syria. The Pentagon said the drone attack was carried out by Iranian proxies and came in the wake of Israel’s attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus.
“We determine that Al Tanf was not the target of the drone,” a defense official said on Tuesday. “The drone was shot down because the target could not be immediately identified and it was unsafe for the United States and coalition partners.”
The incident came after Israel launched an airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus on Monday, but an IDF spokesperson told CNN that the building was not a consulate but “a military installation of the Quds Force disguised as a civilian building. That’s shown by the information.” ”
Israel has carried out numerous attacks against Iranian-backed targets in Syria, many of which have targeted arms shipments destined for Hezbollah, Iran’s powerful proxy group in Lebanon. However, targeting the embassy itself would represent a significant escalation, as embassies are considered sovereign territory of the countries they represent.
Iran has vowed to retaliate after Israel launched an airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Syria, killing at least seven officials. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said those killed included Mohamed Reza Zahedi, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and his senior commander Mohamed Hadi Haji Rahimi. ing.
Iranian state television reported on Tuesday that at least six Syrian nationals were also killed.
Zahedi, a former Revolutionary Guard ground and air force commander and deputy commander for operations, is the most high-profile figure since then-U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. It has become a target for Iranians who have gathered 2020.
The United States quickly told Iran that the Biden administration was not involved and had no prior knowledge of Monday’s attack on the embassy, and warned Iran not to target American assets.
“The United States was not involved in the airstrike and had no prior knowledge of it,” a National Security Council spokesperson told CNN earlier this week.
The United States has warned Iran not to use Israel’s attack on Damascus as “an excuse to attack American personnel or facilities,” a State Department spokesperson told CNN on Friday.
The spokesperson said the warning was sent in response to a message from Iran. Iran’s message to the United States blames the United States for the Damascus attack, but it is not clear what else Iran told the United States in the initial message, the official said.
Iranian President Mohammad Jamshidi, deputy chief of staff, told X Friday: “The Islamic Republic of Iran warns the US leadership in writing not to get caught up in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s US trap. Stay away from it to avoid getting caught.” Please do so.” Hurt. ” In response, the US asked Iran not to target US facilities, it added.
Asked about Jamshidi’s post, a State Department spokesperson told CNN: “As Iran has publicly indicated, we received the message from them.” “We responded by warning Iran not to use this as a pretext to attack U.S. personnel or facilities. We did not ‘ask.’
A senior administration official described the US warning to Iran as “don’t even think about coming after us.”
A State Department spokesperson did not provide further information about how the U.S. message was conveyed to Iran.
The United States considers that not only its own embassies and consulates abroad have special status, but also foreign embassies and consulates in the United States. According to the U.S. State Department, “an attack on an embassy is considered an attack on the country it represents.”
On Tuesday, Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the US assessment was that Israel carried out the airstrike.
“That is our assessment, and it is also our assessment that there were a small number of IRGC top leaders there. We cannot confirm their identities, but that is our initial assessment at this time. “,” Singh said.
Following an October 7 attack on Israel by the Tehran-backed Palestinian group Hamas that killed around 1,200 people and took over 200 hostages, Israel has stepped up military operations against Iran and its regional proxies. .
Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza left more than 32,800 people dead in the besieged enclave, caused widespread destruction and pushed more than 1 million people to the brink of man-made starvation, according to the Health Ministry. .
This article has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s Oren Lieberman, Helen Regan, Hamdi Alkhshari, Tamara Kiblawi and Natalie Barr contributed to this report.
