Washington expects an imminent Iranian attack on Israel and calls for regional mediation

The United States expected Iran to launch an imminent missile attack on Israel, while German carrier Lufthansa announced it was suspending flights to and from Tehran amid fears of an Iranian retaliation. Israel is suspected of carrying out an airstrike on its embassy in Syria.

Bloomberg agency reported that the United States and its allies believe that a major attack by Iran and its proxies using missiles and drones against Israeli military and government targets is imminent and could occur in the coming days.

Bloomberg added that Israel's Western allies were not expected to target civilian facilities and that the attack would not necessarily come from northern Israel.

Bloomberg cited the same sources as saying that the U.S. was helping Israel plan and exchange intelligence assessments, and that Israel had told its allies it was waiting for this attack before launching another potential ground attack on Rafah.

Foreign embassies in Israel are already preparing for an Iranian attack and are making contingency plans for evacuation, the sources said.

Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that the Russian Foreign Ministry has advised its citizens to avoid traveling to the Middle East, particularly Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Lebanon.

In light of the wait-and-see situation, the Israeli war council is expected to meet today in light of threats of possible Iranian retaliation for the bombing of the embassy in Damascus.

Israeli arrangements and demands

Meanwhile, a US Defense Department official told Al Jazeera that General Eric Kurella, the commander of the Central Command, will visit the region to discuss Iran's threats if that includes Israel.

General Guerrilla is expected to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, Axios said, citing two Israeli officials.

Both officials revealed to Axios that Israel is preparing for a possible and unprecedented direct strike from Iranian territory using long-range missiles, drones and cruise missiles against Israeli targets.

In such a scenario, Israel would retaliate with a direct attack on Iran, the two officials said.

Axios cited Israeli and US officials as saying that Washington and Tel Aviv had recently discussed preparing for Iranian retaliation, and that Israel had reached out to the US about whether it could limit Iranian response and show its power in the region through private and public warning messages. .

Lufthansa is grounding its flights

Yesterday, German carrier Lufthansa said it had suspended flights to and from Tehran from April 6 and may continue until April 11 due to the current situation in the Middle East.

A company spokeswoman told Reuters: “We continue to monitor the situation in the Middle East and are in close contact with the authorities, and the safety of passengers and crew is Lufthansa's top priority.”

Lufthansa and its subsidiary Austrian Airlines are the only Western airlines operating international flights to Tehran.

Austrian Airlines, which operates a six-times-a-week direct service between Vienna and Tehran, is scheduled to operate a flight to Tehran on Thursday, while there are no reports yet from other international airlines operating flights to Tehran.

An Iranian news agency posted a message in Arabic on social media, “X” in Arabic, saying that airspace had been completely closed for military exercises. published in any form.

Washington demands mediation

In the same context, US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk called on the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq to convey a message to Iran urging them to reduce tensions with Israel, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. It is suspected that Israel has carried out an airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syria.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that McCurg asked the officials to contact the Iranian foreign minister to convey the message that Iran should remain calm with Israel, and they did so.

Iran's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq had spoken to Iran's foreign minister over the phone and discussed tensions in the region.

Iranian leader Ali Khamenei said Israel must be “punished and punished” in the wake of the raid in Damascus that killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards, including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of the Quds Force.

Although Israel did not claim responsibility for the attack on Damascus, the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) confirmed that it (Tel Aviv) was indeed responsible.

Countries in the region and the United States are bracing for a possible strike by Iran in response to what is believed to be an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1.