Washington, DC – Jamal Abdi, President of the National Iranian American Council, issued the following statement on the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran:
“Americans do not want to fight another war in the Middle East and the path out of the unimaginable death and destruction in Gaza that threatens to engulf the region is through a ceasefire. Now, Israel has apparently killed its counterpart in the negotiations and, in so doing, killed immediate hopes of ending this war before it spirals into a regional conflagration that pulls in the United States. Hamas has engaged in many clear and disturbing violations of international law, including in the October 7th attacks, but the assassination of one of its prominent leaders and ceasefire negotiators in Iran’s capital is a highly provocative act that tips the scales further in the direction of a bloody regional war.
“The U.S. was apparently not consulted or given any forewarning of Israel’s high-risk strike that endangers American servicemembers and interests. This has become a pattern that is particularly galling considering Israel’s dependence on the U.S. for military and political support and protection. In April, Israel kept the U.S. in the dark as it struck an Iranian diplomatic compound, and then relied on the U.S. to defend it from Iranian retaliatory strikes. While U.S. officials frequently confirm that Israel has a right to defend itself, at some point our elected leaders must clarify that Israel does not have the right to drag our country into war or put American servicemembers in harm’s way. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, fresh off dissonant applause in the U.S. Congress, must have felt a green light to engage in further reckless attacks to extend the war – and extend his own political career that is widely believed will end if and when the war does.
Coming on the heels of another assassination of a senior Hezbollah official in Beirut, the assassination of Haniyeh will sow even deeper distrust from Iran toward the United States, which had reportedly been sending messages to Iran that it is seeking to rein in Israel on Lebanon and avoid regional war. Iran will either believe the U.S. had foreknowledge or participated in this assassination or, embarrassingly, was kept in the dark on a move that could entangle the U.S. in war.
“Iran has taken calculated steps to avoid falling into the trap of regional war throughout the past ten months, including by urging allied forces to tamp down attacks on U.S. forces at key times and telegraphing its April missile and drone salvo that struck Israeli soil in retaliation for the assassination of senior Iranian military figures in Syria. Iran’s Supreme Leader has already vowed to retaliate for this latest assassination on Iranian soil, and it appears unlikely that Iran or its allies will show a similarly restrained response. This is a very dangerous moment.
“In the wake of such a disruptive attack, the U.S. is left with many bad choices. This underscores the folly of President Biden and his team dismissing calls to use U.S. leverage to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, enabling the devastation of Palestinians to continue and the risks of war spilling across borders to grow.
“We urge yet again that all sides exercise restraint and pursue deconfliction, but President Biden must finally end his feckless approach towards Netanyahu and make clear that a regional war is unacceptable and that military assistance to Israel will be leveraged to secure an end to the conflict.”
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Jamal Abdi
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