{"id":2224856,"date":"2024-04-18T23:17:03","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T03:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/iranian-attack-on-israel-sparks-us-concern-about-wider-regional-conflict\/"},"modified":"2024-04-18T23:22:31","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T03:22:31","slug":"iranian-attack-on-israel-sparks-us-concern-about-wider-regional-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/iranian-attack-on-israel-sparks-us-concern-about-wider-regional-conflict\/","title":{"rendered":"US expresses worry over potential escalation of conflict after Iranian assault on Israel, igniting broader regional concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Firanian-attack-on-israel-sparks-us-concern-about-wider-regional-conflict%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2224856&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President Joe Biden is\u2063 striving to prevent the Middle East\u2064 from descending into a regional war amidst escalating tensions following Iran&#8217;s drone and missile attack on Israel. The U.S. emphasizes avoiding direct conflict with Iran while \u200csupporting Israel&#8217;s defense. Diplomatic efforts are underway to curb escalation and impose sanctions on\u2064 Iran&#8217;s\u200c missile programs. Threats of retaliation raise concerns of further conflict \u200bescalation.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Joe Biden<\/a> has spent the last six months fervently trying to prevent the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/middle-east\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Middle East<\/a> from devolving into a regional war. Yet Iran\u2019s drone and missile attack on Israel threatens to do exactly that.<\/p>\n<p>His administration maintains that the United States does not seek a direct conflict with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/iran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Iran<\/a> and that it will continue to come to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/israel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Israel\u2019s<\/a> defense if it is attacked, all the while trying to encourage the Israelis to avoid a wider conflict with Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe president, from the beginning of this conflict on Oct. 7, has been steadfast and consistent.\u00a0We don\u2019t want to see a war with Iran,\u201d National Security Council coordinator John Kirby recently told reporters. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to see a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-military-strikes-2-iran-linked-sites-in-syria-pentagon\/\" title=\"Pentagon: US Military Hits 2 Iran-Linked Sites in Syria\">broader regional conflict<\/a>.\u00a0We will do what we have to do to defend Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari shows one the Iranian ballistic missiles Israel intercepted on April 14 at Julis army base in southern Israel. (Tsafrir Abayov\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Iran, over the weekend of April 12-13, launched a barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel. U.S. intelligence agencies and Biden publicly had warned an attack was imminent. Nearly all of the weapons were intercepted by Israel, with help from the U.S., Great Britain, France, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p>There were no major civilian casualties or damage to infrastructure due to the attack, according to the Israel Defense Forces. A few of the Iranian ballistic missiles made it through the defenses, severely injuring a 7-year-old girl and slightly damaging a military base in southern Israel, according to Israeli officials.<\/p>\n<h3>War by subterfuge breaks out into the open<\/h3>\n<p>The attack marked Iran\u2019s first open military swipe at Israel from its own soil. But Israel and the Shiite Islamic theocracy have spent years covertly fighting one another, sometimes in fights between IDF soldiers and Tehran-backed proxy groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, which it is at war against, and others.<\/p>\n<p>Israel has operated covertly to, among other things, stunt the burgeoning Iranian nuclear program. In June 2010, Stuxnet,\u00a0an advanced computer worm,\u00a0was discovered. It is believed that it had been developed by the U.S. and Israel to attack Iran\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/iran-agrees-to-extend-un-nuclear-checks-for-3-months\/\" title=\"Iran agrees to extend UN nuclear checks for 3 months\">nuclear facilities<\/a>. Also that year, a wave of assassinations targeting Iranian nuclear scientists began. The assassinations were widely believed to be the work of Mossad,\u00a0Israel\u2019s foreign intelligence service.<\/p>\n<p>Iran has backed Hamas and its ruling junta in the Gaza Strip, from which the Oct. 7 attacks were launched, claiming 1,200 Israeli lives and taking hostage hundreds of people, some of whom remain in captivity.<\/p>\n<p>But Iran\u2019s most direct attack, the firing of more than 300 missiles and attack drones, was spectacularly unsuccessful. Moreover, Israel had support from several allies in intercepting nearly all of the munitions, even as it faced condemnation over Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>Israel is weighing its response. Some contend Israel should use the attack as a justification to hit back at Tehran and to do it hard. They envision Israel targeting Iran\u2019s nuclear facility or senior military leaders, among other possible targets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIsrael has a wide range of potential targets. You start by flattening Iran\u2019s air defense capabilities,\u201d said John Bolton, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-president-trump-to-pardon-gen-michael-flynn-per-report\/\" title=\"BREAKING: President Trump to Pardon Gen. Michael Flynn, Per Report\">national security adviser<\/a> for former President Donald Trump. \u201cNext, you might go after headquarters of the regular military and the Revolutionary Guard. You could consider going after their oil infrastructure, the oil fields, the distribution pipelines, the export port facilities. And most importantly, I think Israel should be looking at this as an opportunity to destroy Iran\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/evidence-of-undeclared-nuclear-activities-discovered-at-locations-in-iran-that-raise-new-concerns-report\/\" title=\"\u2018Evidence Of Undeclared Nuclear Activities\u2019 Discovered At Locations In Iran That Raise New Concerns: Report\">nuclear weapons program<\/a>, which is the existential threat that Israel faces.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi\u00a0Halevi said Iran\u2019s attack \u201cwill be met with a response,\u201d though he did not specify what kind.<\/p>\n<p>Others caution now is the time for Israel to exercise restraint and lean into diplomatic efforts to isolate and ostracize Tehran on a global stage further.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the 36 hours since, we have been coordinating a diplomatic response to seek to prevent escalation,\u201d Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. \u201cStrength and wisdom need to be different sides of the same coin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the diplomatic front, the president directed the U.S. to work with its G7 allies \u201con new multilateral sanctions to target Iran\u2019s missile and other nefarious programs,\u201d Kirby announced. \u201cG7 countries that had yet to designate the IRGC a terrorist organization are now considering doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Iran already threatened to retaliate if Israel responds, which could further lead the region into conflict.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe firmly declare that the smallest action against Iran\u2019s interests will most certainly be confronted with a severe, extensive, and painful response against all its role players,\u201d Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi\u00a0said\u00a0in a call with Qatar\u2019s emir.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. has sought to prevent a wider conflict since Hamas, one of Tehran\u2019s proxies, carried out a gruesome terrorist attack on Oct. 7. The administration\u2019s desire to avoid a regional conflict has played a role in how it has handled tangential crises that emanated from this conflict.<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s response to the Iranian attack will be the latest moment in which observers will get to see how well the U.S. can persuade its Israeli allies to do what it wants. The administration spent months urging the Israelis to do more to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians and to reduce the number of civilian casualties they incur. And yet, the U.S. did not express satisfaction with their efforts on either until recently.<\/p>\n<p>Biden threatened to condition aid to Israel following an errant Israeli airstrike in Gaza that killed several aid workers. He had been refraining from doing so despite calls from within his party. But in making that threat, the first time he did so publicly, the president got Israeli leaders to make strides to do what he demanded.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminercom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Iran also trains and funds militias in Iraq and Syria, which carried out roughly 170 drone and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israel-agrees-to-delay-ground-invasion-of-gaza-so-us-military-can-frantically-prepare\/\" title=\"Israel postpones ground invasion of Gaza to allow US military to hastily prepare.\">missile attacks targeting<\/a> U.S. forces stationed in both countries and Jordan since the Oct. 7 attack. The one attack that occurred in Jordan resulted in the deaths of three U.S. service members. The U.S. had conducted some limited strikes to combat the militias, but the response to the deaths of the troops put a stop to those attacks.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. also initially set up a defensive alliance in response to the Houthis \u2014 another Tehran-backed group, this one based in Yemen \u2014 who have carried out dozens of attacks on commercial vessels off Yemen\u2019s coasts. Their attacks have forced shipping companies to reroute their vessels on longer, more costly routes to avoid those waterways.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the past six months, President Joe Biden has been committed to averting a regional conflict in the Middle East. However, Iran&#8217;s recent drone and missile strike on Israel poses a serious threat to this effort. The Biden administration emphasizes its avoidance of direct conflict with Iran and pledges to persist in its position<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2671,"featured_media":2224857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/WB.Defense-1024x591.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2224856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/WB.Defense-1024x591.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2224856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2671"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2224856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2224856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2224857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2224856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2224856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2224856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}