Scenarios that threaten to involve the United States in a much broader conflict in the Middle East are being discussed by White House officials. U.S. intelligence officials are trying to predict possible attacks on the United States by Iranian-backed forces, including determining the locations of the next Houthi attack. At the same time, the United States is calling on Tehran to persuade its proxies to reduce the number of attacks, but so far there are no signs of improvement.
This was reported by Politico, UNN.
Details
According to the publication, Biden administration officials are developing plans for a U.S. response to what they believe could escalate from the war in Gaza into a broader, protracted regional conflict. Four officials familiar with the matter, including one senior administration official, told Politico of internal conversations about scenarios that could potentially draw the United States into a new war in the Middle East.
As indicated, the US military is developing plans to strike Iranian-backed Houthi militants who have attacked commercial vessels in the Red Sea - as an option, this includes strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
The military is considering ways to anticipate and repel possible attacks on the United States by Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria, as well as to determine the locations of the next Houthi attack.
The United States has been tacitly urging Tehran for months to persuade the proxies to scale back their attacks, the sources said. But officials say they see no signs that the groups have begun to reduce their targeting and worry that the violence will only increase in the coming days.
The potential for a wider conflict is growing, officials said, following a series of confrontations in Iraq, Lebanon and Iran over the past few days. It is emphasized that the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has in fact escalated far beyond the strip - a scenario the United States has been trying to avoid for months.
The US President convened the National Security Council on New Year's morning to discuss the situation in the Red Sea and possible further actions, a senior administration official tells the publication. One of the results of the meeting was a joint statement issued simultaneously by the United States and a dozen of its allies, warning that the Houthis would face "consequences" if they continued to "threaten lives" and disrupt trade flows in the Red Sea.
Another U.S. official emphasized that the administration's concern about a broader war in the region is not new - the White House administration is concerned about the growth of these threats. Following Wednesday's attack in Iran, administration officials from the Pentagon to the State Department and intelligence agencies began assessing how Iran or its proxies in the Middle East could target the United States or its allies in the region directly.
Although contingency planning is normal in the face of heightened tensions in the Middle East, officials say there is some "fuss" within the administration about compiling reports on potential attack points and possible U.S. responses. This is influenced by fears that violence in the region will only increase, and that Washington will eventually have to intervene.
There is also a possibility that the violence in Gaza could spread to the West Bank and Lebanon, as Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel are already engaged in a firefight on the border.
These fears may increase after the assassination of a Hamas leader in Lebanon on Tuesday, suspected to have been carried out by Israelis; however, so far the US sees no signs that Hezbollah is seeking a wider war, the newspaper concludes.
Recall
The Pentagon officially confirmed the elimination of the leader of the Iranian-backed Harakat al-Nujaba group in Iraq, which had been attacking US military targets.
Also UNN reported that Israel does not intend to establish administrative control over the Gaza Strip and plans to transfer power to the local administration after the military operation in the enclave is completed. This plan was prepared by the country's military leadership, headed by Defense Minister Yoav Galant.