The US has assured Israel of its support in the face of retaliation threats from Iran.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the US's support for Israel's security in a meeting with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said late on Wednesday.
Blinken backed up US President Joe Biden's earlier remarks that the US would stand by Israel in the event of "threats from Iran and its proxies."
Following the recent suspected Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy compound in Syria, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated his threat against Israel on Wednesday. The attack was like an attack on Iranian territory, said the religious leader.
"The wicked regime (Israel) has made a mistake, in this case it must be punished and will be punished," he said.
Two brigadier generals and five other members of Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) were killed in an airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus at the beginning of April. Since then, the Iranian leadership has several times threatened to retaliate.
Biden said at a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday that he is taking the threat seriously.
"As I told Prime Minister Netanyahu," Biden said, "our commitment to Israel's security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad — let me say it again, ironclad."