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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a joint press conference at Iikura Guest House in Tokyo on July 29, 2024.
(JNS) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday urged “all parties to stop taking any escalatory actions” amid increasing tensions between Israel and Iran and its regional terrorist proxies.
Speaking at a press conference with his counterpart Battsetseg Batmunkh in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar (formerly anglicized as Ulan Bator), the American diplomat warned that the Middle East is on a path “toward more conflict, more violence, more suffering, more insecurity, and it is crucial that we break this cycle.”
Blinken stressed the importance of achieving a ceasefire in Gaza, saying that “it is essential that we break this cycle, and that starts with a ceasefire,” adding that “the parties must look for reasons to reach an agreement, and not reasons to delay it.”
The diplomat, who is on a six-country tour of Asia, said in Singapore on Wednesday that the White House was “not aware of or involved” in the targeted killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Jerusalem has not taken responsibility for the missile strike that killed the Palestinian terrorist group’s “political” leader and his bodyguard around 2 a.m. on Wednesday.
Iran and Hamas accused Israel over the assassination of Haniyeh, who was in Tehran for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has ordered a direct attack on Israel following the assassination, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
Diplomats working to prevent all-out war
Western diplomats are engaging in urgent talks to prevent an all-out war in the Middle East in the wake of the Haniyeh assassination in Tehran.
Iran’s Lebanese terrorist proxy Hezbollah has also vowed revenge for Tuesday night’s strike in Beirut that killed its top “military” commander Fuad Shukr; the Israeli military has claimed responsibility for the targeted attack.
European Union envoy Enrique Mora was holding talks in Tehran. He has extensive experience negotiating with Iranians over their nuclear program and was in attendance at Tuesday’s presidential inauguration.
“Mora used his interactions with officials of the incoming Iranian administration in Tehran to convey the E.U.’s position on all issues of concern related to Iran in line with our policy of critical engagement,” said E.U. foreign policy spokesperson Peter Stano, according to the Financial Times.
Officials said the talks were aimed at persuading Tehran not to respond or to limit its response to Haniyeh’s death. Israeli diplomats told Western mediators that the military was not planning any further operations.
“Everyone since last night is putting pressure on Tehran to not respond and to contain this,” a Western diplomat involved in the discussions told FT.
At the same time, Brett McGurk, the White House’s top official for the Middle East, held discussions in Saudi Arabia, where he was already located at the time of the Haniyeh assassination to discuss the situation in Yemen and Israel’s conflict with the Iran-backed Houthis.
McGurk is heading to Cairo next for further talks relating to the Gaza war.
The Biden administration has been conducting urgent talks with Israel and other regional countries, including Blinken talking with his Jordanian and Qatari counterparts and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin talking with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
“We don’t believe that an escalation is inevitable and there’s no sign that an escalation is imminent,” U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Wednesday, the Financial Times reported. Kirby added that the administration is still working on a Gaza ceasefire.
Blinken urges ‘all parties to stop taking any escalatory actions’
