US sending reinforcements to Mideast amid fears Iran will attack Israel: Media reports

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US will move additional assets to Middle East amid heightened tensions between Iran and Israel, said reports Friday.

"We are moving additional assets to the region to bolster regional deterrence efforts and increase force protection for US forces," a US Defense Department official was quoted as saying, according to the multiple reports.

Israel is on high alert amid Iran's public vow to attack Israeli targets in retaliation for the April 1 airstrike on its diplomatic facility in the Syrian capital Damascus. The strike killed at least seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two top generals.

Iran has accused Israel of carrying out the attack and vowed to respond. Israel, however, has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack, but it has for months carried out a number of strikes against Iranian targets across Syria.

Both Iran and Hezbollah, its main ally in Lebanon, have said that the attack will not go unpunished.

"Don't," US President Joe Biden said is his message to Tehran.

"We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed," he told reporters on Friday.

Asked by a reporter how imminent an Iranian attack is, Biden said his expectation is "sooner than later."

US Senator Marco Rubio claimed on Friday that "barring some last minute development Iran is going to attack Israel."

"The response and risk of escalation will depend on what and how they attack," Rubio said on X.

With tensions running high, several countries, including the US, issued new guidelines to their citizens about traveling in Israel.

The Pentagon on Thursday said it is "closely" following the situation in the Middle East, adding that the US commitment to Israel's security against threats from Iran and its proxies is "ironclad."