U.S. Attempts to Avert Iranian Retaliatory Attack on Israel Amid Threat of Wider Regional Conflict

High-level U.S. officials are urgently trying to pressure Iran to back down from its threat to launch a retaliatory strike against Israel — the latest challenge facing the Biden administration as it tries to avert an all-out regional war in the Middle East.

In a sign of how seriously the U.S. views the risk of escalation, the Pentagon confirmed on Thursday that Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, had “moved up” a previously scheduled trip to Israel to meet with senior Israeli military leaders “due to recent developments.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also spoke by phone with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday afternoon “to discuss the current situation in the Middle East and to reaffirm the U.S.’s ironclad commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies,” according to Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary.

Read the source article at ABC News