The White House announced that U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with his national security team today, Monday, to discuss developments in the Middle East.
The White House added that Biden will also speak with Jordan’s King Abdullah II today, Monday.
A White House official said on Sunday that the United States will deploy additional “military capabilities” in the Middle East as a defensive measure to calm regional tensions.
Tensions in the region escalated following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of Hamas, in Tehran, Iran, on Wednesday, a day after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut killed senior Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr, allied with Iran.
Iran and Hamas accuse Israel of assassinating Haniyeh and, along with Hezbollah, have vowed to retaliate.
Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for Haniyeh’s assassination.
The U.S. Department of Defense announced on Friday that it would deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the region.
Jonathan Finer, Deputy National Security Advisor, told CBS that “the overall goal is to reduce regional tensions alongside deterrence, repel those attacks, and avoid a regional conflict.”
Finer emphasized that the United States and Israel are preparing for all scenarios.
He mentioned that the region avoided a major escalation in April when Iran launched drone and missile attacks on Israel in response to what it said was an Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus on April 1, which killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
The United States and its international partners, including France, Britain, Italy, and Egypt, continued their diplomatic contacts in an effort to prevent further escalation in the region.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi concluded a rare visit to Iran on Sunday, during which he called for halting the escalation of violence and contributing to “building a region characterized by security and peace.”
