Biden issues warning as Iran ‘prepares to launch missile strike’ on Israel
Joe Biden has warned Iran not to launch an attack on Israel, amid reports of an “imminent” missile strike targeting the country.
The US president said his commitment to Israel’s security was “ironclad” and that Washington would do “all we can” to protect it from an attack by Tehran in retaliation for a strike in Syria that killed senior Iranian generals.
On Wednesday evening, Bloomberg reported that US intelligence officials believed an attack on Israeli soil was imminent and could involve “high-precision missiles”.
Speaking at a press conference in Washington, Mr Biden said: “We also want to address the Iranian threat … they’re threatening to launch a significant attack in Israel.
“As I told Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad. Let me say it again, ironclad … all we can to protect Israel’s security.”
A Pentagon official on Wednesday night declined to comment on reports that the US was preparing to intercept Iranian missiles, and to join retaliatory strikes by Israel.
The official told The Telegraph the US government was “aware of Iran’s rhetoric” and that “both Israel and the US take it seriously”.
Foreign embassies have reportedly already begun evacuations in anticipation of an attack in the coming days, after Iran’s supreme leader said Israel “must be punished” for an air strike on an Iranian embassy compound in Syria.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for the strike, which killed two generals and five military advisers on April 1. The most high-profile victim was Mohamed Reza Zahedi, who led the elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard in Lebanon and Syria until 2016.
In a speech to mark the end of Ramadan on Wednesday, Ayatollah Khamenei vowed to take revenge on Israel.
“When they attack the consulate, it is as if they have attacked our soil,” he said. “The evil regime made a mistake and must be punished and it shall be.”
Two days after the attack, he said “the Zionist regime” would “receive a slap in the face” in retaliation.
Military targets
US officials reportedly believe any Iranian strike would likely be on military and government buildings, not civilian targets. One source told Bloomberg that an attack was considered a matter of when, not if.
Any strike could escalate the conflict in the Middle East to a direct war between two of the region’s biggest powers.
Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, has said Israel would respond to an attack with its own strike on Iranian soil.
Speaking to troops in northern Israel, Mr Gallant said Iran would face a “powerful response in its territory”.
“In this war, we are being attacked from more than one front … from different directions,” he said.
“Any enemy that tries to attack us will first of all be met with a strong defence. But we will know how to react very quickly with a decisive offensive action against the territory of whoever attacks our territory, no matter where it is, in the entire Middle East.”
Iran has been accused of supporting Hamas in its war against Israel and of stoking the conflict through its proxy groups in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
The attack on Israel could come from Lebanon, where Hezbollah is located, although intelligence officials reportedly believe it could also be launched from elsewhere in the region.
Tehran has long avoided attacking Israel directly but Khamenei said that “our fighters” would be involved in Iran’s revenge.
Israeli officials have said they will wait for the Iranian attack before launching a planned assault on Rafah, in the south of Gaza, where the Israeli government has vowed to root out remaining Hamas fighters.
Iran has also blamed Britain and the US for its role in the air strike on April 1, and argues that Israel’s Western backers are complicit in the deaths of its troops.
While the US has publicly warned Israel against attacking Rafah because of expected civilian casualties, Washington has remained supportive of the war against Hamas and committed to Israeli security.
Earlier on Wednesday, Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, said the UK was “absolutely clear about the threat that Iran poses to the region” and pointed to British participation in strikes against the Yemeni Houthis, another Iranian proxy group.
“Britain stands with our allies, crucially, including the United States, we stand up for Israel’s right to self-defence,” he told Fox News.
The UK Government has retained diplomatic ties with Iran throughout the conflict, despite Lord Cameron’s declaration that the country is “a thoroughly malign influence in the region and in the world”.
On Wednesday evening, Lufthansa, the German flight operator, announced it was suspending flights to Tehran “due to the current situation in the Middle East”.
A spokesman said the company was “constantly monitoring the situation in the Middle East and are in close contact with the authorities”.
Separately on Wednesday, three sons of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed by an Israeli strike in central Gaza.
The IDF said they were operatives of Hamas’s military wing. Haniyeh said several of his grandchildren had also been killed.
