WASHINGTON, DC - As Iran has vowed to avenge the death of a top Hamas political leader, the US government on Monday implored its allies and partners with diplomatic ties to Iran to press Tehran for restraint and to avoid escalatory steps. “We are making clear to all of our allies and partners in the region and beyond who have diplomatic engagements with Iran that they should press Iran to take de-escalatory steps and refrain from further escalation,” US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a press briefing on Monday. “We have been sending consistent messages through our diplomatic engagements encouraging people to communicate to the government of Iran that escalation is not in their interest and that we will defend Israel from attacks,” Miller added. An escalation would be bad for Iran and the Middle East, according to the US official. “[E]scalation does not serve Iran’s interest as it doesn't serve the interests of anyone in the region,” he added. Tensions between US-backed Israel and Iran-backed groups in the Middle East have been soaring since last week, especially after the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran on Wednesday. Iran has blamed Israel for the attack and vowed to retaliate, but Israel has not claimed responsibility. Despite no official diplomatic channels open between Washington and Tehran, Miller said the United States can communicate with the Islamic Republic. “So, with respect to Iran, we've always said we have the ability to send messages to them or to get messages to them, which is in our interest to do so, and we did that,” he reiterated. When Iran attacked Israel on April 13, Iran claimed it had given advance notice of the massive attack to the regional and US governments, which US officials have rejected. “Let me just say a number of things about what Iran said to us last time. That proved to be completely untrue… you may remember this,” Miller said. “There were a number of things the Iranian government put out there just flatly about messages they sent to us that were simply false.” The spokesperson urged people not to believe everything said by the Iranian government. He said: “You should be highly skeptical as always about reports of what the Iranian government may or may not have sent to us in the message through an intermediary or third party.”
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