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US mounts diplomatic blitz to contain Iranian attack

The Biden administration is urging Iran to temper its retaliation against Israel for the assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.

Motorists drive their vehicles past a billboard depicting Iranian missiles in Tehran on April 20, 2024, a day after Iran's state media reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan.
Motorists drive their vehicles past a billboard depicting Iranian missiles in Tehran on April 20, 2024, a day after Iran's state media reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan. — ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The United States is using diplomatic back channels to warn Iran against launching an attack on Israel that could trigger a full-blown war in the Middle East.  

The last-minute appeal by Washington and its partners comes a week after Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas’ political office, died in an explosion in Tehran widely attributed to Israel. A day earlier, an Israeli-claimed strike in Beirut killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr as retaliation for the militants’ rocket attack that killed 12 children in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. 

US officials fear a response by Tehran or its proxies to the twin assassinations could unleash a wider regional war and derail indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged both Iran and Israel to exercise restraint, and framed a Gaza cease-fire deal as a potential off-ramp. 

“No one should escalate this conflict,” Blinken said. “We’ve been engaged in intense diplomacy with allies and partners, communicating that message directly to Iran. We communicated that message directly to Israel.”

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