Biden cut short his day off amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran

The White House announced early Saturday morning that Joe Biden was returning to Washington from out of town "to consult with his national security team on developments in the Middle East" amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, reports UNN citing The Guardian.

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The US president was due to spend the weekend in Delaware at his beach residence but made a quick trip back to the White House on Saturday.

This followed Biden saying Friday that he expected an Iranian attack on Israel "sooner rather than later" and sending a final desperate message to Tehran saying, "Don't do it.

Earlier, John Kirby, the White House national security spokesman, warned that the threat of a major Iranian attack on Israel remains "vital" despite Washington's efforts, including appeals to Tehran by Britain and Germany, to contain a major escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

Iran's paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized an Israeli-linked container ship in the Strait of Hormuz, 50 nautical miles off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, on Saturday.

Iran has threatened reprisals against Israel for an April 1 strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria that killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two generals, raising fears that the already volatile Middle East could quickly escalate further.