Iran’s Possible Involvement in Israel-Hamas Conflict Worries U.S.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan expressed concern about a possible “escalation” of the conflict between Israel and Hamas that could lead to “direct involvement of Iran,” raising concerns among the United States and its allies in the region. In an interview on CBS television, Sullivan raised the possibility of a new battlefront on the Israeli-Lebanese border, noting that “they can’t rule out that Iran might decide to get directly involved in some way. We have to prepare for any eventuality.” The politician added that this threat was something his country had considered since the beginning of the conflict and stressed that President Joe Biden had acted quickly and decisively to send a clear signal to any entity that tries to take advantage of the situation. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently announced that the U.S. will send a second aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean as a deterrent. The USS Eisenhower and its escort ships will join the first aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, which had already been deployed to the region after Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Israel, for its part, amassed troops around the Palestinian enclave of Gaza and carried out daily bombardments in response to the Hamas offensive, the deadliest attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement since the creation of the State of Israel. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian warned in Doha, Qatar, that “if the Zionist regime’s attacks on the defenseless population of Gaza continue, no one will be able to guarantee control of the situation and the prospect of an extension of the conflict.”

Original source in Spanish