Israel Prepares for Iran Attack + Other Headlines

Tuesday Digest (08.06.24)

Israel prepares for Iran attack: Is a preemptive strike a possibility?

As my colleague Brian Schrauger explained in this morning’s video, Israel is on the verge of war with Iran. Even though both the United States and its Arab allies have urged Iran to take a breath before responding to the assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran, Iran seems disinterested in any kind of deescalation.

According this article yesterday at Fox News, “Iranian leaders have pledged to retaliate, telling Arab diplomats on Saturday that it does not matter to them if the response led to a war.”

Consider these developments:

• Iran has warned pilots to avoid its airspace and airlines have cancelled flights to Israel, Jordan and Lebanon

• A spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry said yesterday it must “punish Israel” to prevent further instability.

• American and British officials have warned their citizens to evacuate Lebanon immediately.

• Israel has sent troops to the West Bank in preparation for a ground assault [The Telegraph]

• The U.S. has deployed ships and fighter jets to the Middle East in anticipation of an attack by Iran.

• President Biden is holding “around-the-clock” crisis talks with leaders to avert war [Independent]

• A top Russian security official, Sergei Shoigu, has arrived in Iran for talks about signing a cooperation agreement.

• Jordan has vowed to intercept Iranian missiles over its airspace again, just like it did in April.

And Israel has not only said it was prepared to defend itself against the expected attack, but raised the possibility of a preemptive strike.