Stay up-to-date as tensions rise in the Middle East

Stay up-to-date as tensions rise in the Middle East

The fallout from Israel’s attack on Iran has the world reeling as fears of a potentially dangerous escalation of the wider Middle East conflict grow.

Here is the immediate response almost 24 hours after the strike:

The Biden administration has been tight-lipped following Israel’s attack on Iran.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to his Israeli counterpart on Friday, according to the Pentagon, but made no mention of the Israeli attack.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also declined to weigh in Friday, telling reporters during a White House press briefing that the Biden administration would avoid commenting on the matter altogether.
Iraq expressed “deep concern” over the attack and the Iraqi Foreign Ministry (MFA) on Friday warned of the risk of a military escalation that “now threatens the security and stability of the region as a whole.” His statement emphasized that the Israeli-Iranian escalation should not “distract” from the ongoing destruction and loss of innocent lives in Gaza.
Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi told CNN that escalation “doesn’t benefit anyone”, and that Jordan will not “be a battleground for Israel and Iran and none of them should violate our airspace, endangering our security and our people. ” He also urged all parties involved to focus on ending the “catastrophe that continues to unfold in Gaza.”
US secures key deal for aid distribution in Gaza: The Biden administration has secured an agreement with a key United Nations agency to distribute aid from a jetty being built by the US military off the coast of Gaza, two senior US officials told CNN – an important development because the US and its allies have rushed to finalize plans for how much-needed humanitarian aid will be distributed in the war-torn zone. The US military is expected to finish building the pier early next month. The World Food Program will support the distribution of aid from the docks after weeks of diplomatic wrangling, officials familiar with the matter told CNN.
Blinken defends US veto on Palestinian statehood: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken defends the US veto on UN Security Council resolutions for Palestinian statehood at the UN. “The United States is committed to achieving a Palestinian state,” said the top US diplomat, “but to achieve that, to achieve that state, has to be done through diplomacy, not through imposition.”