US Could Launch Joint Retaliatory Strikes With Israel If It Is Attacked By Iran: Official

Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge     April 10, 2024

Update(1550ET): Upping the ante, a US official has told Al Jazeera that the Pentagon could intervene militarily if there is an Iranian attack launched against Israel.

According to a translation from Al Jazeera Arabic, the US source said, “We do not rule out launching joint retaliatory strikes with Israel if it is attacked by Iran or its agents.”

There was no further elaboration, or an indicator whether a US joint response with Israel would include offensive strikes against Iran, or if this would just be defensive, for example – anti air measures. However, Axios has the following details which appears to confirm the Al Jazeera reporting:

The senior U.S. military commander in charge of the Middle East is expected to go to Israel Thursday to coordinate around a possible attack on Israel by Iran and its proxies, two Israeli officials said.

…The commander of the U.S. military central command (CENTCOM) Gen. Erik Kurilla is expected to meet senior Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) officials and Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant.

Yesterday, Israeli officials threatened that Iranian nuclear sites could be targeted, in one of the biggest strike threats to date. The region is on edge awaiting an ‘imminent’ response by Iran following the April 1st deadly attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus. US intelligence has said it believes a revenge attack from Tehran is coming soon.

* * *

And just like that what was already a terrible day for doves and those hoping disinflation would finally arrive – not to mention Biden and the Fed – got much worse when moments ago oil spiked by over $1 per barrel with WTI jumping above $86 and Brent over $90…

… after a Bloomberg report that the US sees a missile strike on Israel by Iran and proxies as “imminent” to wit:

The US and its allies believe major missile or drone strikes by Iran or its proxies against military and government targets in Israel are imminent, in what would mark a significant widening of the six-month-old conflict, according to people familiar with the intelligence.

The potential assault, possibly using high-precision missiles, may happen in the coming days, the people said, requesting anonymity to discuss confidential matters. It is seen as more a matter of when, not if, one of the people said, based on assessments from US and Israeli intelligence.

Iran has threatened to hit Israel in retaliation for an attack on a diplomatic compound in the Syrian capital of Damascus last week that killed senior Iranian military officials. Israel has not explicitly acknowledged it was behind that attack, though it has traditionally followed a policy of ambiguity on operations in Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere.

* * *

US and Western intelligence indicates an attack from Iran and its proxies may not necessarily come from Israel’s north, where Tehran’s ally Hezbollah in Lebanon is located, the people said.

US and Western intelligence indicates an attack from Iran and its proxies may not necessarily come from Israel’s north, where Tehran’s ally Hezbollah in Lebanon is located, the people said. Israeli officials are in agreement with the allied view. They’ve also publicly threatened Iran that if it hits Israeli soil, Israel will hit Iranian soil.

Earlier on Wednesday Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei repeated a vow to retaliate against Israel for the Damascus strike, which he said was tantamount to an attack on Iranian territory.

And while the Bloomberg report said nothing we haven’t already reported, perhaps it was the urgency of the headline or the market’s hypersensitivity to anything that can push inflation even higher, that sparked the powerful reaction. Ironically, the news hit just moments after we correctly predicted that the idiotic Biden puppetmasters are about to push the world into yet another catastrophic war.

The good news: Boeing stock is a buy here.