US diplomats mobilize, fearing military assets won't protect 'Israel'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
6 Aug 2024 04:39
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Despite the extensive deployment of US anti-air systems in the Middle East and "Israel's" comprehensive air defense systems, the US remains uncertain about its ability to protect "Israel" from retribution for its crimes.

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A barrage of homegrown ballistic missiles is fired toward targets from mobile launchers by the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) during a military exercise in central Iran, on January 15, 2021. (IRGC via AP)

The United States still cannot determine when Iran will retaliate against "Israel's" assassination of Hamas Political Bureau's chief, martyr Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, Iran.

Multiple US officials told CNN that they expect Iran to retaliate in the coming days, perhaps within the next few hours, however, they struggle "to gauge when the response will come and what form it will take."

The American broadcaster said that Iran had already moved some of its military assets, needed for such an attack, in April, when it responded to an Israeli strike on its embassy in Syria.

According to two US officials, this makes it more difficult for American intelligence to predict Tehran's actions. This has created divisions among US national security officials, who have contradicting views on the aspects of the anticipated military response.

American intelligence on Iranian strike is 'murkier'

Now the US attempts to recreate a coalition that helped defend "Israel" from the large-scale Iranian strike on April 13, 2024. Although the effort to mitigate the strike's effects saw the participation of multiple NATO and regional states, including the wide-scale deployment of aircraft and air defense batteries, Iran managed to hit a number of key Israeli military assets with pinpoint precision.

The event also saw the US collect substantial information on the details of the strike and its effects. Yet, the efforts and the broad Israeli anti-air systems failed to provide full coverage from a flurry of Iranian missiles.

Officials who spoke to CNN said that the "American intelligence picture is much murkier" this time.

US directs stretched forces to West Asia

Concurrently, the US is also directing some of its forces closer to the region, including two destroyers.

As part of its efforts to aid the criminal Israeli regime, the US has moved the USS Laboon and the USS Cole destroyers toward the eastern Mediterranean. Previously, US naval assets attempted to shoot down Iranian ballistic missiles heading for military targets across occupied Palestine.

Moreover, the US Defense Department redirected the Navy's Carrier Strike Group 3 and its flagship the USS Abraham Lincoln nuclear-powered aircraft carrier from the Pacific to the Gulf. The decision was taken in early August, as the US hoped to relieve Carrier Strike Group 12 and its flagship, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, from its tasks after being deployed to the Middle East in January.

In a report, Foreign Policy focussed on the fact that despite the possibility of escalation, the decision stretches US forces around the world, as it transfers Carrier Strike Group 3 from the contentious Indo-Pacific to the Middle East. Such events have been recurrent in recent years, as the US struggles to protect its interests in Eastern Europe and the Pacific and the Israeli occupation.

Additionally, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a fighter squadron and extra land-based air defense systems for deployment to the Middle East.

"We are not building a military that can handle three theaters simultaneously," said Mark Montgomery, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told FP.

Biden, Harris, meeting interrupted by rocket attack on US base

Amid the troubles faced by US forces, US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met the administration's national security team on Monday, where they discussed the "threats posed by Iran and its proxies to Israel and to US service members."

Notably, the meeting coincided with a rocket attack on the US Ain al-Assad Airbase in Iraq, which injured multiple American personnel according to the Pentagon.

Reportedly, during the meeting, Biden and Harris were also put in the loop on the weak US intelligence on the nature and time of Iran and Hezbollah's retaliatory strikes.

Hezbollah is also lining up a response to an Israeli strike that killed commander martyr Fouad Shokor in the Southern Suburbs of Beirut, alongside several civilians.

Blinken rushes to garner support from allies, fearing wide-scale response

The administration, namely the US State Department, is working on rallying support from its allies to pressure Iran to contain the score of its retaliation against Israel, US officials told ABC.

On Sunday, State Secretary Antony Blinken told G7 foreign ministers that responses from Iran and Hezbollah are expected to begin in the next 24 to 48 hours. However, since the details of Blinken's remarks to top G7 officials, neither Iran nor Hezbollah responded to the Israeli crimes, highlighting the uncertainty of US intelligence.

During the call, Blinken urged US allies to use "any tactic available" to push Iran and Hezbollah to limit the size of any strike. Worries regarding the effectiveness of US, Israeli, and allies air defenses have manifested in continuous US diplomatic mobilization to contain the number of missiles fired toward Israeli-occupied territories.

Biden and Blinken also contacted King Abdullah II of Jordan, Qatari officials, and Egyptian officials for the same purposes, according to ABC.

"One of the points of the engagements that we have had is to urge countries to pass messages to Iran and urge countries to make clear to Iran that it is very much not in their interests to escalate this conflict, that is very much not in their interest to launch another attack on Israel," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

On the other hand, both Iran and Hezbollah, as well as other members of the Axis of Resistance, have promised stern responses to the Israeli crimes in Tehran and Beirut. The parties view the Israeli actions as extremely provocative and to have crossed multiple red lines. Both Iran and Hezbollah can utilize a flurry of weapons systems to surpass Israeli defenses and strike strategic targets, as has been proven by the two allies on previous occasions.