CENTCOM chief heads to Israel as Washington says Iranian strike 'imminent'

News Desk - The Cradle

As the allied nations scramble to prepare for Iran's response to the bombing of its consulate, Joe Biden reiterated that US support for Israel is 'ironclad'

The commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), General Erik Kurilla, will visit Israel on 11 April to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other senior army officials in anticipation of an Iranian response to last week's bombing of Tehran's consulate in Damascus.

His visit comes on the heels of a report in Bloomberg that says the Pentagon expects “major missile or drone strikes by Iran or its proxies against military and government targets in Israel” within the coming days. According to the New York-based publication, intelligence assessments from US and Israeli intelligence have determined the Iranian retaliation is “more a matter of when, not if.”

Nevertheless, the assessments have determined that “military facilities may be targeted, but civilian facilities are not expected to be” and that any retaliation from the Islamic Republic “may not necessarily” come from Lebanon.

"If Iran attacks from its own territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran," Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday, in response to numerous warnings from Iranian officials that followed the deadly attack in the Syrian capital.

"When they attack the consulate, it is as if they have attacked our soil," Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in a speech marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. “The evil regime made a mistake and must be punished, and it shall be.”

The unprecedented attack by Israel on an Iranian diplomatic mission left behind several dead, including General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a top commander within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force who for several years was in charge of the Lebanese and Syrian file.

Zahedi was the most senior IRGC officer to be killed since the US assassination of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
Following the attack, the Israeli army was sent into a frenzy in anticipation of an Iranian response, as authorities canceled leave for all combat troops.

According to a report in Kuwaiti daily Al-Jadira, in the aftermath of the attack, US officials contacted authorities in Tehran via Swiss mediators and asked for the Islamic Republic not to retaliate, offering to persuade Tel Aviv to stop its attacks inside Lebanon and Syria.

However, a diplomatic source in Beirut told Al-Jarida that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected offhand the proposal to stop attacks in Syria.

Iranian authorities reportedly considered the proposal but demanded that the guarantees also include a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza.

As the US and Israel scramble to prepare for Iran's retaliatory attack, on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden reiterated that Washington would do “all we can to protect Israel’s security.”

“Our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad,” he said after a meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. “Let me say it again: ironclad.”