Iran has warned that it could open up a second front with Israel “in the coming hours” as US President Joe Biden prepares to travel to Tel Aviv and Jordan to hold discussions to prevent regional escalation.
In an televised interview on Monday night, Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said “all possible options and scenarios” are available to their Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon. They are positioned just miles from the northern Israeli border; an exchange of fires took place throughout Tuesday morning, injuring two Israelis.
“Any preemptive measure is possible in the coming hours,” Amir-Abdollahian added. Early on Tuesday, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel would have to pay for its “crimes against Palestinians”.
US secretary of state Anthony Blinken returned to Tel Aviv on Monday night after a six-day tour of the Arab nations aimed at trying to prevent the conflict in Gaza becoming a regional disaster. While he did not visit Tehran, behind-the-scenes talks were taking place between the two governments, according to White House officials.
It comes as the families of Israeli hostages seized by Hamas during their incursion on October 7 have pleaded for their return.
The mother of Miya Shem, a 21-year-old abductee who was seen in a film posted by Hamas from Gaza on Monday, called on the militants to “return my baby home” during a press conference today.