AMMAN:
The top US general began an unannounced visit to the Middle East on Saturday to discuss ways to avoid any further escalation of tensions that could lead to a wider conflict as the region prepares for a threatened Iranian attack on Israel.
Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, began his trip in Jordan and said he would also travel to Egypt and Israel in the coming days to hear the perspectives of military leaders.
His visit comes as the United States tries to broker an elusive Gaza hostage ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which Brown said would “help bring down the temperature” if achieved. .
“At the same time, as I’m talking to my counterparts, what are the things that we can do to prevent any kind of wider escalation and make sure that we’re taking all the appropriate steps to (avoid) a wider conflict,” Brown said Reuters before landing in Jordan.
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US President Joe Biden’s administration is seeking to contain the fallout from the Gaza war between Hamas and Israel, now in its 11th month. The conflict has leveled vast swaths of Gaza, sparked border clashes between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and sparked attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on Red Sea shipping.
Meanwhile, US troops have come under attack from Iran-aligned militias in Syria, Iraq and Jordan.
In recent weeks, the US military has been beefing up its forces in the Middle East to guard against major new attacks by Iran or its allies, sending the aircraft carrier strike group Abraham Lincoln to the region to replace the aircraft carrier strike group Theodore Roosevelt.
The United States also sent an Air Force F-22 Raptor squadron to the region and deployed a cruise missile submarine.
“We have provided additional capability to send a strong message to prevent a wider conflict … but also to protect our forces in the event of an attack,” Brown said, saying the protection of American forces is “of the utmost importance.”
Iranian response
Iran has vowed a tough response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which took place during his visit to Tehran late last month and which it blamed on Israel. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.
Hezbollah also threatened to retaliate after Israel killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut last month.
Iran has not publicly said what a possible response to Haniya’s killing would target, but US officials say they are watching closely for any signs that Iran will follow through on its threats.
“We stand still, watching the movements (of intelligence) and power,” Brown said.
On Friday, Iran’s new foreign minister Abbas Araqchi told his French and British counterparts in telephone conversations that it was his country’s right to respond, according to the official IRNA news agency.
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On April 13, two weeks after two Iranian generals were killed in an attack on Tehran’s embassy in Syria, Iran launched a barrage of hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles at Israel, destroying two air bases. Israel, the United States and other allies managed to destroy almost all of the weapons before they reached their targets.
Brown did not speculate on what Iran and its allies might do, but said he hoped to discuss different scenarios with his Israeli counterpart.
“Particularly as I work with my Israeli counterpart, how they might respond, depending on the response that comes from Hezbollah or from Iran,” Brown said.
The current war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen stormed Israeli communities, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli estimates.
Since then, Israel’s military campaign has driven nearly all of the enclave’s 2.3 million people from their homes, causing deadly hunger and disease and killing at least 40,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.
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