The White House has been rattling its saber this week, warning China and Iran against attacking two key allies as U.S. officials track a “credible” threat of an imminent Iranian strike inside Israel.
President Joe Biden has been in diplomat-in-chief mode, huddling with the leaders of Japan and the Philippines for high-stakes talks aimed at bolstering cooperation with both countries to combat China’s outsize influence in the region and beyond. Meantime, administration officials have a message for Iran, saying they are closely monitoring a potential retaliatory strike inside Israel that could set the tinderbox Middle East afire.
“We are certainly mindful of a very public and what we consider to be a very credible threat made by Iran in terms of potential attacks on Israel,” John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser, said Friday. “We are in constant communication with our Israeli counterparts about making sure that they can defend themselves against those kinds of attacks.
