Amid heavy and rising tensions in the Middle East following the assassination of Hamas’ Political Bureau Chairman, Ismail Haniyeh, and Hezbollah cadre, Fouad Shokr, the US State Department drew a road map to the upcoming events in the region, carrying overt and hidden messages.
After deliberating with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Ben Abdul Rahman Al Thani and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken issued a press briefing that tackled recent developments.
The statement was read by spokesperson of US foreign policy, Mathew Miller, who emphasized that “the Middle East is currently in a critical moment,” stressing that “it is important that all parties take steps over the coming days to refrain from escalation and ease tensions.”
Conveying the message that “escalation is in no one’s interest,” he made clear that “it serves no country and certainly not the millions of civilians who just want to live their lives free from violence and conflict.”
In response to a question, Miller reiterated that “all parties need to look for reasons to say yes to an agreement, not look for reasons to delay or say no,” reminding that the US prepares for the possibility of “further conflict.”
This hidden message carries a warning that Israel will not be alone in case Iran launches attacks from Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Tehran. Miller conveyed a message to Iran about how Tehran’s response to assassinations is to be limited in order to prevent a flareup and expansion of the conflict.
“When Iran launched attacks against Israel in mid-April, you saw a series of attacks, and then, ultimately, the conflict didn’t widen further,” he noted. Hence the US also links escalation to the future steps to be taken by Iran, saying clearly and out loud: Do not do more than what was done before, or else Washington will be involved this time.
“We do believe it’s important to continue to defend Israel against attacks, whether they come from Iran or whether they come from Iran’s proxies,” he continued.
Miller added, “It is prudent for us to take steps to deter and eventually, if necessary, defend against those attacks should they occur.”
On the situation in Lebanon, Miller indicated that “over the weekend we sent out a message to American citizens in Lebanon making clear that Lebanon is a Do Not Travel country, it’s a Level 4 country, and we issued a security alert encouraging US citizens who wish to depart Lebanon to book any ticket available for them.”
He pointed out that they are in the process of “monitoring the situation, making assessments, and taking actions based on response to real-time events.”
“You have a risk of parties miscalculating, risk of them taking actions that get out of hand or that have unintended consequences,” he concluded, adding that it “can affect the ceasefire negotiations and can increase the risk of broader conflict.”
