US President Joe Biden held crisis talks on Monday over a possible Iranian retaliatory strike on Israel, while his administration said it was working around the clock to avoid a full-blown war in the Middle East.
Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken pursued intense diplomacy to ease tensions sparked by a suspected Israeli strike that killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
The president called Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who helped shoot down Iranian drones and missiles in an earlier confrontation in April, while Blinken called top officials from Qatar and Egypt, the key mediators seeking a ceasefire in the 10-month-long Israel-Hamas war.
“We are engaged in intense diplomacy around the clock with the message being very simple — all parties must avoid escalating tensions,” Blinken said after joining other top officials for a White House meeting.
“It’s also critical that we break this cycle by reaching a ceasefire in Gaza,” Blinken said, adding that he has also spoken with G7 counterparts and Iraq’s prime minister since Sunday.
Several US personnel were injured in a rocket attack on a base in Iraq on Monday, further escalating already heightened regional tensions.
Biden was hoping to end the Gaza war and broker a historic agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia in the final months of his term.
Instead, he has increased the US military presence in the Middle East to show his strength to Iran.
Having strongly supported Israel’s war against Hamas, Biden has expressed his disappointment to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the killing of Haniyeh, who was involved in ceasefire talks.
Blinken, who has warned that Iran could attack soon, laid out a new proposal for Biden’s ceasefire plan that would halt the fighting in Gaza and return hostages taken in Israel’s major attack on Hamas on October 7.
Blinken, while meeting Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, said the ceasefire would “open up the possibilities for a more lasting peace, not only in Gaza, but also in other areas where the conflict may spread.”
In an apparent nod to US frustrations, Blinken said, “The point really is for all parties to find ways to reach an agreement, not look for reasons to delay or say ‘no.'”
“It is vital that all parties make the right decisions in the coming hours and days,” he said.
Fear of escalating conflict
Biden met with his national security team, including Vice President Kamala Harris, in the White House’s highly secured Situation Room.
He arrived at the White House after spending the weekend in Delaware and after kissing first lady Jill Biden, headed straight to the Oval Office without commenting to reporters.
The White House said Biden and Jordan’s king in their conversation “discussed their efforts to reduce regional tensions, including an immediate ceasefire and hostage release agreement.”
According to a statement from Jordan’s royal court, King Abdullah called for “an immediate and lasting ceasefire to end the devastation in Gaza” and “a halt to all escalation measures.”
Iran directly attacked Israel in April, bringing their long-standing shadow war into the open, after an Iranian diplomatic building in Syria was attacked.
The United States helped intercept the drones and missiles, and the damage was minimal.
But Jordan – which is in a fragile position because of its large Palestinian population and peace deal with Israel – has insisted it does not want to become a battleground.
“We were able to chart a path that ultimately allows us to get through this time without becoming embroiled in a full-blown war,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in April.
“But whenever a situation like this arises, there’s a risk that parties will miscalculate, and that they will take actions that get out of control,” Miller told reporters.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
