Unnamed American and Israeli officials have said that a major missile or drone attack by Iran or its proxies on Israel seems imminent in the coming days, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
“The potential assault, possibly using high-precision missiles, may happen in the coming days, the people said, requesting anonymity to discuss confidential matters, Bloomberg reported. It added that the United States is “helping Israel on planning and sharing intelligence assessments,” sources said.
Since the precision missile strike by Israel on April 1 that killed two top IRGC generals and five other officers in Iran’s embassy compound in Damascus, Tehran has been threatening retaliation.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Wednesday said that Israel made a mistake and “will be punished.” Observers have been speculating in the past ten days whether Iran is willing to risk a widening of the conflict with Israel, or if it decides to retaliate, what kind of response it will unleash.
In an apparent response to Khamenei, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that Israel will respond if Iran attacks Israel from its own soil.
"If Iran attacks from its own territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran," Katz said in post on the social media platform X.
US President Joe Biden says his country's commitment to Israel's security in the face of Iran's threats to launch an attack against Israel is "ironclad".
German airlines Lufthansa suspended flights to and from Tehran for 24 hours amid concerns of a potential military escalation.
