The United States still believes a diplomatic solution is possible in the Middle East, even as Israel strikes Lebanon, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday.
“The path to diplomacy may seem difficult to see at this moment, but it is there, and in our judgment, it is necessary. We will continue to work intensively,” Blinken told a news conference.
Blinken also asserted that the US will take “every measure” if its interests are attacked amid the rising violence in the Middle East.
“To anyone using this to target American personnel or American interests in the region: the United States will take every measure,” Blinken said.
‘Dangerous Escalation’
The Iranian embassy in Lebanon condemned a series of intense Israeli strikes on the densely packed Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday, warning of a “dangerous escalation” in the Middle East.
“This reprehensible crime… represents a dangerous escalation that changes the rules of the game,” the Iranian embassy said in a post on X, adding that Israel “will receive the appropriate punishment.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the “brutal terrorist airstrike on several residential buildings in Beirut.”
“The continuation of the Zionist regime’s crimes clearly shows that the ceasefire call issued by the United States and some Western countries is a blatant trick aimed at buying time for the Zionist regime to continue its crimes against the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples,” ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement.
With AFP
