Washington monitors Iranian threats, expects 'more deadly' strike | News

The top Democrat on the US House Intelligence Committee, Jim Himes, said that the expected Iranian response against Israel “could be more deadly,” at a time when expectations have been rising that an Iranian strike against Israel is imminent.

Haimes said that the Iranian response to the assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, may differ from the strike that Iran launched against Israel last April, in response to the bombing of its consulate in Damascus.

The US representative added that there would not be enough time to intercept missiles that might be launched from southern Lebanon against targets in Israel.

Regarding the negotiations for a possible exchange deal and ceasefire in the Gaza Strip between the resistance and Israel, Haymes said that the assassination of Haniyeh and the prominent Hezbollah leader Fouad Shukr “put the ceasefire off the table.”

In parallel with Himes' statements, the White House said that the national security team briefed US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the threats posed by Iran and its allies.

The White House added that Biden and Harris were briefed on the latest US military efforts to bolster Israel's defense, and that they discussed the steps needed to defend US forces and respond to any attack. They were also briefed on diplomatic efforts to calm tensions in the region and stop the ceasefire in Gaza.

Al Jazeera's correspondent had said earlier that Biden was now starting a meeting with his national security team in the White House Situation Room to discuss developments in the Middle East.

This comes at a time when expectations are rising that Iranian retaliatory strikes are imminent, and American media sources have said that the Iranian response may come in the coming hours of Tuesday.

In this context, the United States deployed additional fighter jets and warplanes to the region to support Israel after reports indicated that an Iranian strike was imminent.

White House National Security Council communications official John Kirby told Fox News that Washington was moving an aircraft carrier to the region for what he called “purely defensive reasons,” and that the overall goal was to reduce tensions in the region.

Last Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his G7 counterparts in a conference call that any attack, which he expected to be a joint attack between Iran and Hezbollah, could occur within 24 to 48 hours starting Monday, according to the American news website Axios.