Washington: The Joe Biden administration in the United States said on Monday that it is putting all efforts into avoiding an all-out war in the Middle East as tensions escalate between Israel and Iran, Agence France-Presse reported.
The recent escalations between the two stemmed from Iran and its allies pledging to avenge the deaths of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah’s top leader, Fouad Shukr, and Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh. AFP reports that President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are engaged in frantic diplomacy to decrease tensions in the region, particularly between the Zionist nation and the Islamic Republic.
AFP reports that Biden called King Abdullah II of Jordan, who had helped in downing Iranian drones and missiles in April, while Blinken reached out to top officials in Qatar and Egypt, who are prime intermediaries who worked for a ceasefire in the Israelp-Hamas war.
Blinken later said that the US is engaged in intense diplomacy round the clock with the simple message that all parties must refrain from escalation.
He said that it is critical that they break the cycle of attacks to reach a ceasefire in Gaza. He spoke to his G7 counterparts as well as Iraq’s prime minister after Saturday.
In a Monday rocket attack on a base in Iraq, multiple US personnel were injured.
Biden, who called Qatar and Egypt, is in all efforts to end the Gaza war and reach a landmark deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. He wanted to be done with this before his term ended in months. He boosted the US military presence in the Middle East in a bid to exhibit the US’s military strength to Iran.