Blinken warns of escalating conflict, Tehran meeting to discuss response to Israel

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Middle East is heading towards more conflict and called for no escalatory measures, while Reuters quoted sources as saying that Iran's allies will meet in Tehran to discuss options for responding to Israel.

The head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, was martyred in Tehran yesterday, Wednesday, in an assassination operation that Israel did not officially claim responsibility for, while it confirmed its responsibility for the killing of the Hezbollah leader, Fouad Shukr, in a bombing of the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Amid fears of a regional conflict erupting through revenge operations targeting Israel, the American network CNN quoted Blinken as saying that the Middle East is heading towards more conflict, and urged all parties not to take escalatory measures.

The US Secretary of State sees the need for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in order to “break the cycle of violence”, and called on all parties to adopt “the right choices” in the coming days. He added, “I spoke with my colleagues across the region, and they are all focused on reaching a ceasefire, and all parties need to find reasons to reach an agreement, not justifications to delay it.”

Earlier, the Financial Times quoted a Western diplomat as saying that “everyone” was pressuring Tehran not to respond to Haniyeh's assassination, and quoted unnamed officials as saying that “the future of the conflict may depend more on Iran's calculations than on Israel's.”

The Financial Times said that American and European diplomats are holding urgent talks across the Middle East in a race to try to avoid the outbreak of a full-scale regional war.

Tehran meeting

In contrast, five sources told Reuters that senior Iranian officials will meet with representatives of Tehran's allies in the region from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen today, Thursday, to discuss a possible response to Israel.

Following Haniyeh's assassination, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that Tehran believes it is “its duty to avenge Haniyeh's blood” because the assassination took place on Iranian soil. He added, in a statement, that “the criminal and terrorist Zionist entity, by assassinating Haniyeh, has paved the way for its harsh punishment.”

In the same context, the New York Times quoted 3 informed Iranian officials as saying that Khamenei ordered, in an emergency meeting of the Supreme National Security Council, to strike Israel directly in response to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.

They added that the leaders are considering launching a drone and missile attack on military targets around Tel Aviv and Haifa, and that among the options is a coordinated attack from Iran, Yemen, Syria and Iraq to achieve maximum impact.

Iranian officials said, according to the newspaper, that Khamenei ordered the Revolutionary Guards and the army to prepare plans for attack and defense if the war expands, indicating that Iran will be careful to avoid hitting civilian targets in any attack on Israel.

Israel is anticipating a response from Iran to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, as well as from Hezbollah to the assassination of Fouad Shukr. Channel 12 reported that Israel informed Lebanon and Iran through diplomatic channels that it is prepared for a comprehensive war.

The channel added that the security establishment in Israel is preparing for a set of possible responses, including attempts to breach the northern border.