ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller on Thursday said that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been engaged in diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions in the Middle East against the backdrop of Israel’s rising concerns over the threat of an Iranian attack.
“We continue to be concerned about the risk of escalation in the Middle East, something we have been working to mitigate and contain since the attacks of October 7th, and specifically about the threats made in recent days by Iran against the state of Israel and Israeli people,” said Miller during a press briefing on Thursday.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday vowed to punish Israel for the strikes on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, which Tehran blames on Tel Aviv, during his Eid prayer sermon. The strikes killed two top generals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“The evil regime made a mistake and must be punished and will be punished… The consulate and embassy facilities in any country that exists is considered to be the territory of that country. When they attack our consulate, it means our territory has been attacked,” he said.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz then took to X, on Wednesday, to warn Iran that it would respond to any attack, also mentioning Khamenei in the post.
“If Iran attacks from its territory - Israel will respond and attack in Iran,” Katz said, in both Hebrew and Farsi.
Miller stressed that Secretary Blinken has, over the past 24 hours, been engaged in diplomatic efforts in the form of calls to foreign counterparts such as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, “to make clear that escalation is not in anyone’s interest and that countries should urge Iran not to escalate.”
Blinken also underscored American support for Israel during a phone call with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, saying Washington would stand by them against threats from Iran, echoing US President Joe Biden’s reiteration of Washington’s support for Tel Aviv in the face of a potential attack from Iran or its proxies in the region.
''Today, we have made clear to them [Iran] they shouldn't escalate this conflict in any way; with respect to Israel, with respect to others in the region, with respect to US forces. One of the first messages we sent them when the Iranians were making these baseless claims that the US was involved in the strike in Damascus, is that that is not true. We weren't involved. We didn't know about it. And you should not use this as a pretext to strike US forces in the region, including in Iraq, as we have seen their proxy groups do over the past few months in the past few years'' Miller told Rudaw's Diyar Kurda during the press briefing.
Miller noted that on the call with Gallant, Secretary Blinken “also emphasized the importance of Israel meeting the commitments that Prime Minister Netanyahu made to President Biden last week to improve the delivery of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, and to put in place enhanced deconfliction and coordination measures.”
When it comes to engagement with European allies, Miller highlighted that Washington has engaged with them over the past days "and urged them as well to send a clear message to Iran that an escalation is not in Iran’s interest, is not in the region’s interest and is not in the world’s interest.”
Calls for restraint also came from Russia and Germany.
"It is extremely important today for everyone to show restraint in order to avoid a complete destabilization of the situation in the region, which already does not shine with stability and predictability," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday, as cited by Russian state media, calling on countries in the region to exercise restraint.
Germany’s foreign minister also urged caution in the region as tension rises.
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