WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is holding out hope that last-minute diplomacy may avert an expected attack by Iran and its proxies against Israel.
But officials in Washington aren’t counting on it. The Pentagon has begun shifting military assets to the region in an effort to deter an attack and better defend American forces in case they come under fire, multiple officials told Al-Monitor.
US sources briefed on intelligence said they expect Iran and its proxies may launch an attack against Israel sometime in the next two days, even as the Biden administration has reportedly enlisted Western and Arab allies in an effort to persuade Iran to de-escalate.
The anticipated attack may include missiles and drone swarms, Al-Monitor’s sources said. Iran is believed to possess the Middle East’s deepest stockpile of precision-guided projectile weaponry and has widely proliferated those weapons to militias it backs in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.