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White House says potential Iran retaliation against Israel could come this week
The Biden administration is preparing for a potential attack on Israel by Iran and its proxies as soon as this week, in retaliation for the recent assassinations of top leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah.
“We have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks, which is why, again, we have increased our force posture and capabilities in the region even in just the last few days,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Monday.
The Pentagon, which rarely makes public statements on the location of submarines, said Sunday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the USS Georgia, a nuclear-powered guided missile submarine, to the region. Austin has also ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to “accelerate” its movement from the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East.
The moves were made, according to the Pentagon, to protect U.S. forces in the region as well as to help Israel defend itself against an anticipated retaliatory attack by Iran and its proxies.
U.S. officials told CBS News that a limited attack from both Hezbollah and Iran could come with little to no warning. Hezbollah is and has been positioned to launch attacks with virtually no warning. Iran has made enough preparations to launch a limited attack with a little warning, potentially coordinated with a Hezbollah offensive.
The administration has been bracing for an attack ever since Iran publicly blamed Israel for back-to-back assassinations of top leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah at the end of July. Israel has claimed responsibility for killing Fouad Shukur, a top Hezbollah commander, in Lebanon, but has not confirmed involvement in the death of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed while visiting Tehran on July 31.
In April, Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel that did minimal damage, thanks to Israeli air defenses and help from the U.S. and other allies.
This time,U.S. officials are concerned about how Hezbollah’s potential entry into the fight may prompt the wider regional war that the Biden administration has been trying to avoid since Oct. 7, when Hamas attacked Israel, leading to Israel’s retaliation in Gaza. Hezbollah, according to the CIA World Factbook, has an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles it could use against Israel while Israel is still fighting a war against Hamas in Gaza.
Kirby expressed optimism that cease-fire negotiations could continue this week in Doha, Qatar, to end the fighting in Gaza.
“We fully expect that those talks are going to move forward. And they need to move forward. All negotiators should return to the table and bring this deal to a close,” Kirby said.
Boeing’s 33,000 unionized machinists on Wednesday voted to approve the plane manufacturer’s latest contract offer, ending a seven-week strike that had halted production of most of the company’s passenger planes.
The union said 59% voted to accept the contract. Members have the option of returning to work as soon as Wednesday, but must be back at work by Tuesday, November 12, the union said in a statement.
Union leaders had strongly urged members to ratify the latest proposal, which would boost wages by 38% over the four-year life of the contract, up from a proposed increase of 35% that members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) had rejected last month.
The revised deal also provides a $12,000 cash bonus to hourly workers and increased contributions to retirement savings plans. The enhanced offer doesn’t address a key sticking point in the contentious talks — restoration of pensions — but Boeing would raise its contributions to employee 401K plans.
Average annual pay for machinists, now $75,608, would climb to $119,309 in four years under the current offer, Boeing said.
The vote came after IAM members in September and October rejected lesser offers by the Seattle-based aerospace giant.
“In every negotiation and strike, there is a point where we have extracted everything we can in bargaining and by withholding our labor,” the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers stated last week in backing Boeing’s revised offer. “We are at that point now and risk a regressive or lesser offer in the future.”
Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su has played an active role in the negotiations, after recently helping to end a days-long walkout that briefly closed East and Gulf Coast ports.
The Boeing strike that began on Sept. 13 marked the latest setback for the manufacturing giant, which has been the focus of multiple federal probes after a door plug blew off a 737 Max plane during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. The incident revived concerns about the safety of the aircraft after two crashed within five months in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.
Boeing in July agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud for deceiving regulators who approved the 737 Max.
During the strike, Boeing was unable to produce any new 737 aircraft, which are made at the company’s assembly plants in the Seattle area. One major Boeing jet, the 787 Dreamliner, is manufactured at a nonunion factory in South Carolina.
The company last month reported a third-quarter loss of $6.1 billion.
contributed to this report.
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