US denies Iran gave heads-up before strike as Israel weighs hitting back

The Middle East is on the brink of a devastating full-scale conflict as Iran and Israel engage in a dangerous game of retaliation. On Saturday, April 13, Iran launched a massive drone and missile attack on Israel, following an Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian claimed that Iran gave neighbouring countries and Israel’s ally, the United States, 72 hours’ notice before the attack. However, a senior official in US President Joe Biden’s administration denied this, stating that Washington did not receive any such warning.

Turkish, Jordanian, and Iraqi officials stated that Iran provided advance notice of the strike on Israel, extending it to both neighboring countries and the United States.

However, a senior official in the Biden administration, speaking to news agency Reuters, denied these claims, stating that Tehran did not warn Washington. The official alleged that Iran only communicated with the US after the attack had commenced.

According to ABC News, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) proposed a range of military response options to the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government in the wake of the Iranian attack. These options range from strikes to refraining from immediate action. Israeli officials told Reuters that the war cabinet favours a retaliation against Iran, but is divided over the timing and scale of such a response.

Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that Israel remains on high alert following the attack. Operational plans for offensive and defensive actions have been approved.

Meanwhile, at the United Nations, Iran’s actions were received with condemnation and stern reproach. US Ambassador Robert A Wood warned Tehran of repercussions if it further targets Israel or the US in a UN Security Council meeting on Sunday. The UK’s representative, Barbara Woodward, echoed the US envoy in condemning the Iranian attack, stating that it also endangered Jordan and Iraq.

Iran’s envoy to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, defended the attack as an exercise of the country’s right to self-defence. “The Security Council… failed in its duty to maintain international peace and security” after Israel’s apparent strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria earlier this month, Iravani said.

Therefore, Tehran “had no choice” but to respond, he said, adding that his country does “not seek escalation or war,” but will respond to any “threat or aggression.”

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, accused Iran of violating international law at and played a video on a tablet that he said showed Israel’s interception of Iranian drones above Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Erdan called on the Security Council to reimpose sanctions on Iran and designate its Revolutionary Guards as a terror organisation. “The snooze button is no longer an option. The only option is to condemn Iran and utilize every means necessary to make them pay a heavy price for their horrible crimes,” he said.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint, warning against the escalation of conflict in the Middle East.

“The Middle East is on the brink… Neither the region nor the world can afford more war… Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate,” he told the Security Council.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi asserted that the attack has taught Israel a lesson and vowed a “heavier and regretful response” to any further aggression against Iran’s interests.

US President Joe Biden urged Israel to use caution in any response to Iran’s attack and telling Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States will not join an offensive counter-strike on Tehran should Israel choose to go down that road.

This comes after the US assisted Israel in shooting down dozens of drones and missiles fired by Iran. Israeli authorities said 99 per cent of the inbound weapons were shot down without causing any significant damage. The Pentagon said US and allied forces destroyed more than 80 attack drones and at least six ballistic missiles intended to strike Israel from Iran and Yemen.