Tyler Durden
"On Monday Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian claimed that the United States is desperately seeking an end to the fighting to Gaza, despite Israel being nowhere near dismantling and destroying Hamas at the moment, which is Tel Aviv's stated aim.
The foreign minister said that 'the Americans sent us a message in the past three days saying they are are seeking a ceasefire,' according to state TV.
This could indeed be the behind the scenes messaging now being advanced as Secretary of State Blinken shuttles between capitals in the region, having most recently met with with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday. So far he's on record as seeking a "humanitarian pause" in the fighting.
More interesting is that the White House has simultaneously dispatched CIA Director William Burns, who arrived in Israel Sunday for top level meetings. Burns will also go to Qatar, and then Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
As with the Ukraine war, Burns is often sent to crisis spots to relay messaging that the US administration doesn't wish to discuss publicly. This could involve further mediation to get the hostages freed, or working toward some kind of serious ceasefire agreement centered on the hostages' freedom."
"...Meanwhile, in light of this Iran has ratcheted its threats and messaging aimed at Washington, after its proxy arm Hezbollah has already blamed the US for overseeing the massacres in Gaza. Tehran is now warning that the US will be 'hit hard' if it can't press Israel to a ceasefire.
'Our advice to the Americans is to immediately stop the war in Gaza and implement a ceasefire, otherwise they will be hit hard,' Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency on Sunday."
"A US military build-up in the region has continued, after US bases in Syria and Iraq have been targeted by "Iran-backed" militias over two dozen times, resulting in troop injuries. This new Iranian threat to hit Americans 'hard' no doubt is a threat to step up these attacks further, as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah also warned just days ago in a speech."