Blinken Says Iran Poses Risk of Escalating Mideast War as Israel Warns Hezbollah

Israeli soldiers and armored vehicles are at their position along the Israel-Lebanon border, 22 October 2023. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli soldiers and armored vehicles are at their position along the Israel-Lebanon border, 22 October 2023. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
TT

Blinken Says Iran Poses Risk of Escalating Mideast War as Israel Warns Hezbollah

Israeli soldiers and armored vehicles are at their position along the Israel-Lebanon border, 22 October 2023. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli soldiers and armored vehicles are at their position along the Israel-Lebanon border, 22 October 2023. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday Washington saw potential for escalation in the ongoing war in the Middle East due to the actions of Iran and its proxies in the region.

Along Israel's northern border with Lebanon, the Iran-backed Hezbollah has clashed with Israeli forces in support of Hamas in the deadliest escalation of frontier violence since an Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.

Hezbollah said four fighters were killed in heavy exchanges of fire on Sunday and another died of wounds sustained earlier, raising to 24 the number of its members killed since Oct. 7.

Lebanese security sources said 11 fighters with Palestinian militant groups in Lebanon had also been killed in the volatile border region, alongside four civilians. At least five Israeli soldiers and one civilian have been killed on Israel's side of the frontier, according to Israeli military reports.

The United States was not looking for escalation, Blinken told NBC News in an interview.

Blinken’s comments came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hezbollah against opening a second war front with Israel, saying that doing so would bring Israeli counter-strikes of "unimaginable" magnitude that would wreak "devastation" upon Lebanon.

In an official transcript of a briefing Netanyahu gave Israeli commandos near the Lebanese border, he also said: "I cannot tell you right now if Hezbollah will decide to enter the (Gaza) war fully."

That war, launched after a devastating cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct 7, was "do or die" for Israel, Netanyahu said.



EU’s Kallas Says She Hopes for Political Agreement on Easing Syria Sanctions

In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)
In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)
TT

EU’s Kallas Says She Hopes for Political Agreement on Easing Syria Sanctions

In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)
In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday she hopes a political agreement on easing Syria sanctions can be reached at a gathering of European ministers next week.

EU foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Syria during a meeting in Brussels on Jan. 27.

European officials began rethinking their approach towards Syria after Bashar al-Assad was ousted as president by opposition forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, which the United Nations designates as a terrorist group.

Some European capitals want to move quickly to suspend economic sanctions in a signal of support for the transition in Damascus. Others have sought to ensure that even if some sanctions are eased, Brussels retains leverage in its relationship with the new Syrian authorities.

“We are ready to do step-for-step approach and also to discuss what is the fallback position,” Kallas told Reuters in an interview.

“If we see that the developments are going in the wrong direction, then we are also willing to put them back,” she added.

Six EU member states called this month for the bloc to temporarily suspend sanctions on Syria in areas such as transport, energy and banking.

Current EU sanctions include a ban on Syrian oil imports and a freeze on any Syrian central bank assets in Europe.