US diplomats have reportedly been working the phones this week, speaking with their counterparts across the world to urge restraint from Iran. While calling for de-escalation, US officials have also reaffirmed their country’s “ironclad” support for Israel, raising fears of a direct confrontation between Washington and Tehran. “We are devoted to the defence of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel, and Iran will not succeed,” Biden said on Friday. The Pentagon and State Department have also expressed similar positions. “This completely deprives Israel of any incentives to de-escalate,” Parsi said.
He added that Biden’s backing of Israel mirrors his “bear hug” approach to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the outset of the war on Gaza, which gave a green light to the mass killings and rights violations in the Palestinian territory.
“That helped shape Israel’s strategy that knew no limits, that did not care about international law — because they had come to understand that Biden will support them no matter what,” Parsi told Al Jazeera.
Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy think tank, called the US approach to the crisis “hypocritical and contradictory”.
“They’re calling on all the other parties in the region to be restrained, constantly telling the Iranians ‘don’t escalate’, whereas they encourage Israelis to act with total impunity,” Toossi told Al Jazeera.
