Washington —

U.S. President Joe Biden issued a stern warning to Iran on Friday as the world braced for Tehran’s retaliation for a deadly Israeli airstrike on its embassy compound in Damascus, Syria.

“No,” Biden told reporters after delivering a domestic policy speech at an event in New York City.

“We are committed to defending Israel,” the president said in response to a reporter’s question. “We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed.”

Biden’s comments came after senior U.S. defense and diplomatic officials expressed similar support in the past few days, and the U.S. military is taking steps to ensure that rising hostilities between Israel and Iran do not draw the Middle East into more Widespread war.

“We are mobilizing additional assets to the region to enhance regional deterrence efforts and enhance protection of U.S. forces,” a U.S. defense official told VOA on Friday. The official declined to give further details. .

Although U.S. officials warned Iran not to seek retaliation, a key Iranian proxy acted swiftly.

Lebanese Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets into the country’s north on Friday night.

The Israel Defense Forces said it detected about 40 rockets crossing the border from Lebanon into Israel, some of which were intercepted by air defense systems.

The IDF also said it was able to intercept two explosive drones used by Hezbollah militants to target Israel earlier on Friday.

It was unclear whether Hezbollah’s rocket and drone strikes were part of Iran’s retaliation for an Israeli attack on an Iranian diplomatic compound earlier this month that killed three senior IRGC commanders, including one who led Iran General Ali Reza Zahedi of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran’s elite Quds Force.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Wednesday that Israel “must be punished and will be punished” for the April 1 attack. Days earlier, one of his advisers said the Israeli embassy was “no longer safe.”

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Thursday that U.S. diplomats, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have been in contact with their counterparts in Turkey, China and Saudi Arabia, urging them to make it clear to Tehran that “escalation is not possible.” in everyone’s interest”.

But while the United States has pushed for de-escalation, it has also expressed strong support for Israel in response to potential Iranian aggression.

“We are in constant communication with our Israeli counterparts to make sure they can defend themselves,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters earlier Friday, calling Iran’s threat of retaliation “very credible.”

“We take very seriously our commitment to help Israel defend itself,” Kirby said. “It’s an ironclad commitment.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also expressed Washington’s support for Israel in a call with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant on Thursday.

According to the Pentagon conversation, “Secretary Austin assured Secretary Galante that Israel can rely on the full support of the United States to defend Israel from Iranian attacks.”

However, U.S. statements and the mobilization of additional resources to deter Iranian aggression have so far done little to alleviate growing concerns.

“We are very concerned that the situation may be escalating every day,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

“The message we have given publicly and privately is to avoid escalation and to work to de-escalate tensions,” Dujarric told reporters on Friday.

VOA’s Patsy Widakuswara and Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.