'Dont': US president warns Iran on Israel attack

Joe Biden's response to questions by reporters

WASHINGTON:

US President Joe Biden again warned Iran on Saturday about a possible retaliatory attack against Israel amid rising tensions in the Middle East.

"Don’t," Biden responded to reporters before entering his vehicle, when he was asked: "What’s your message to Iran?"

Biden issued the same warning in April, before Iran carried out a rocket and drone attack against Israel in retaliation for the April 1 airstrike on its diplomatic facility in the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing at least seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two top generals.

Tensions are running high in the Middle East following the July 31 assassination of Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital of Tehran and Israel's assassination of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.

Hamas and Iran have accused Israel of carrying out Haniyeh’s assassination, while Tel Aviv has not confirmed or denied responsibility.

Iran vowed "harsh punishment" for Israel for Haniyeh’s killing on Iranian soil.

Hezbollah, the Lebanese group, is also expected to retaliate after Israel assassinated Shukr in an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut on July 30.

The escalation comes amid an ongoing Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip which has killed nearly 39,800 Palestinians following an attack on Oct. 7 by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, that killed 1,139 Israelis.