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Blinken to G7: Iran, Hezbollah Could Attack Israel Within 24 Hours
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with commanders and a group of members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
JNS.org — Iran and its Lebanese terror proxy Hezbollah could attack Israel as early as Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his counterparts from the G7 countries on Sunday.
Three sources briefed on the conference call confirmed the top American diplomat’s remarks to Axios reporter Barak Ravid.
Blinken convened the meeting with the G7 allies — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom — to coordinate ahead of the expected offensive by Iran and its terror proxies against the Jewish state.
He stressed that reducing the impact of the expected Iranian drone and missile strikes offered the best hope of preventing an all-out war, according to the report.
While Washington believes Iran and Hezbollah will retaliate against Israel for the targeted killings last week of senior Hezbollah member Fuad Shukr in Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, it is unclear regarding what form that retaliation will take, said Blinken.
Nor, he added, does Washington know the exact timing of the expected attack. However, he emphasized that it could start as soon as the next 24 to 48 hours, meaning as soon as Monday.
Washington was attempting to “break the escalatory cycle” by limiting the attacks by Iran and its proxies and also by restraining Israel’s response to them, said Blinken according to Axios.
“Blinken asked the other foreign ministers to apply diplomatic pressure on Iran, Hezbollah and Israel to maintain maximum restraint,” the report continued.
He also stressed to the G7 allies that the bolstering of US forces in the Middle East region was for defensive purposes only.
“We express our deep concern over the heightened level of tension in the Middle East which threatens to ignite a broader conflict in the region,” the G7 ministers said in a statement.
“We urge all involved parties to refrain from perpetuating the current destructive cycle of retaliatory violence, to lower tensions and engage constructively towards de-escalation. No country or nation stands to gain from further escalation in the Middle East,” it continues.
Gen. Erik Kurilla, commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), arrived in the Middle East on Saturday for a previously planned trip the focus of which has now shifted to mobilizing a multilateral defensive force to shield Israel.
Kurilla was expected in Israel on Monday. Israeli officials told Axios that Kurilla will meet with the Israel Defense Forces to finalize preparations ahead of the possible Iranian and Hezbollah attacks. He was also scheduled to visit the Gulf states and Jordan.
Biden to convene national security team
US President Joe Biden plans to convene his national security team in the Situation Room on Monday to discuss the developments in the Middle East, according to the White House.
The president will also speak with Jordan’s King Abdullah, the White House said. Amman played a pivotal role during Iran’s April 13 onslaught on Israel.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi visited Tehran on Sunday to discuss the security situation. According to the Jordanian Foreign Ministry, Safadi met with acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri and passed along a message from King Abdullah II to the Iranian president.
“I didn’t come here to convey a message from Israel or to receive a message for Israel. I came here to express concern about regional escalation,” Axios quoted Safadi as saying after his meeting in Tehran.
Underscoring the regional tensions, the visit marks the first diplomatic trip to the Islamic Republic by a high-level Jordanian official since Safadi’s predecessor, Nasser Judeh, led a government delegation to Tehran in 2015.
Iranian officials have told Arab diplomats that Tehran is determined to strike Israel even if doing so sparks a regional war, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the chiefs of Israel’s security agencies on Sunday evening for a situation assessment at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Channel 12 News reported, noting that the government is still creating a “definitive picture” of the assault it could be facing.
The report said that Israel’s defense establishment was considering the possibility of “preventive actions or attacks … in Lebanon or perhaps in other places where necessary.”
A source in Jerusalem told NBC News earlier on Sunday that the government is bracing for a combined attack by Iran and Hezbollah lasting “several days,” with missile attacks from the north and east.
The post Blinken to G7: Iran, Hezbollah Could Attack Israel Within 24 Hours first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
The post Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.