CNN
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The Iranian government is very nervous, and has engaged in urgent diplomatic efforts with countries in the Middle East to gauge whether it can reduce the scale of Israel’s response to its missile attack earlier this month, and – if that fails – help protect Tehran, sources said. Informed. He told CNN.
Iran’s concern stems from uncertainty about whether the United States can persuade Israel not to strike Iranian nuclear sites and oil facilities, and the fact that its most important proxy militia in the region, Hezbollah, has been significantly weakened by Israeli military operations in recent weeks. The sources said.
The United States is consulting with Israel about how it plans to respond to the attack launched by Iran on October 1, and American officials have made clear that they do not want Israel to target Iranian nuclear sites or oil fields. US President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, their first conversation in nearly two months, telling him that Israeli retaliation must be “proportionate.”
An Arab diplomat said that US allies in the Gulf, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar, have also expressed concern to the United States about a possible attack on Iranian oil facilities, which could create negative economic and environmental impacts on the entire region. CNN.
The Biden administration is deeply concerned that ongoing tit-for-tat attacks between Iran and Israel, which began earlier this year after Israel struck what Iran said was its consulate building in Damascus, could turn into a major regional war that draws the United States there. , also.
A large part of the concerns are that US influence with Israel has begun to diminish steadily over the past year. Similar to its operations in Gaza, Israel has increasingly ignored US calls for greater restraint in Lebanon, where an intensified bombing campaign and Israeli ground offensive have killed more than 1,400 people since late last month.
Israel also did not consult with the United States before launching a massive attack that blew up thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members last month, or before assassinating Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut and upending Hezbollah’s delicate ceasefire proposal. . The United States and France less than 48 hours ago.
An Israeli official told CNN on Friday that the Israeli security cabinet has not yet reached a decision on how to proceed. An American official said that while the gap between the American and Israeli positions is narrowing, the matter may not remain that way.
“We can’t actually know whether they voted or not,” a senior administration official said of the Israeli government’s discussions, expressing doubts about the level of transparency about what Israel shares with the United States. The official noted that they could not “put much consideration into the machinations” of the Israeli government.
CNN reported that Israel had not provided any guarantees until last week that it would not target Iranian nuclear facilities.
Israel has been planning attacks on Iran’s nuclear capabilities for decades, and just two years ago it simulated striking them in a military exercise. Israel is also suspected of carrying out assassinations against Iranian nuclear scientists in recent years, and Iranian nuclear facilities have been under siege by cyberattacks, most likely from Israel – most famously the Stuxnet virus, which managed to infiltrate Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant issued a stern warning to Iran regarding his country’s response on Wednesday.
“Our strike will be strong, precise, and above all – sudden. They will not understand what happened and how it happened,” Gallant said.
The Arab diplomat said that the Gulf states, in general, are keen to remain on the sidelines of the conflict. While Iran has publicly warned that any party seen as helping Israel will be treated as an aggressor, Iran’s neighbors are also unlikely to openly come to Tehran’s defense in the event of an Israeli attack.
But Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have told both the United States and Iran that they will not allow Israel to use their airspace to strike Iran, the Arab diplomat and another source familiar with the matter told CNN. A Jordanian official said that Jordan will also protect its airspace from any unauthorized intrusion, regardless of its source.
The United States does not believe Iran wants to get involved in a full-scale war with Israel, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Al Jazeera this week that Netanyahu “is the only one who wants war and setting fire to the region.” Stay in power.”
But an official said the United States was still urging Tehran, through back channels, to calibrate its response if it attacked Israel.
While Qatar regularly talks with the Iranians and feeds back to the United States what they say, the US official said that in the end, “we don’t know what the Iranians are saying.” [Iran] I will.” Another US official said that key voices inside Iran will have different ideas about whether and how to respond to Israel, but that will depend on the size and scope of the anticipated Israeli move.
This official said messaging from Iran has been consistent publicly and privately since Tehran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel earlier this month, and there has been no significant change in messaging.
The Arab diplomat told CNN that Iran is particularly interested in getting help from Saudi Arabia to prevent an Israeli attack and using its influence with Washington to help find a solution to the crisis.
Officials from each country have met three times in less than a month, and Araghchi traveled to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to “consult on regional developments” and “try to stop the crimes of the Zionist regime in Lebanon and Gaza,” he said locally. Media.
The world is watching Israel’s every move and thinking about how to respond. But at least until sunset on Saturday, Israel will remain off celebrating Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the year in Judaism. Although it is not impossible for Israel to start moving, shops, restaurants and other services will be closed, public transportation will not operate, and even the country’s main airport – Ben Gurion in Tel Aviv – will be closed.
CNN’s Kayla Tosh, Dania Carney and Katie Beau Lillis Contributed to reports.
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