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\u2019s \u201cironclad\u201d support for Israel, raising fears of a direct confrontation between Washington and Tehran. \u201cWe are devoted to the defence of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel, and Iran will not succeed,\u201d Biden said on Friday. The Pentagon and State Department have also expressed similar positions. \u201cThis completely deprives Israel of any incentives to de-escalate,\u201d Parsi said.
\nHe added that Biden\u2019s backing of Israel mirrors his \u201cbear hug\u201d 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.
\n\u201cThat helped shape Israel\u2019s strategy that knew no limits, that did not care about international law \u2014 because they had come to understand that Biden will support them no matter what,\u201d Parsi told Al Jazeera.
\nSina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy think tank, called the US approach to the crisis \u201chypocritical and contradictory\u201d.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re calling on all the other parties in the region to be restrained, constantly telling the Iranians \u2018don\u2019t escalate\u2019, whereas they encourage Israelis to act with total impunity,\u201d Toossi told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\u2019s \u201cironclad\u201d support for Israel, raising fears of a direct confrontation between Washington and Tehran. \u201cWe are devoted to the defence of Israel. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399964,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-399949","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n