The United States expects an attack by Iran against Israel but one that will not be big enough to draw Washington into war, a U.S. official says late.

This was disclosed on Thursday.

The White House said earlier that Washington did not want conflict to spread in the Middle East, and the U.S. had told Iran it was not involved in an air strike against a top Iranian military commander in Damascus.

The White House added that it warned Iran not to use that attack as a pretext to escalate further in the region.

Suspected Israeli warplanes bombed Iran’s embassy in Damascus on Monday in a strike for which Iran has vowed revenge and in which a top Iranian general and six other Iranian military officers were killed, ratcheting up tension in a region already strained by the Gaza war.

Iranian sources told Reuters that Tehran signalled to Washington that it would respond to Israel’s attack on its Syrian embassy in a way that aims to avoid major escalation and it will not act hastily, as Tehran presses demands including a Gaza truce.

The United States has been on high alert about possible retaliatory strikes from Iran, and U.S. envoys have been working to lower tensions.

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s military assault on Hamas-governed Gaza has since killed more than 33,000 people, according to the local health ministry, displaced nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, caused a humanitarian crisis, and led to genocide allegations that Israel denies.

Iran-backed groups have declared support for Palestinians, waging attacks from Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq.

Tehran has avoided direct confrontation with Israel or the United States while declaring support for its allies. 

(Reuters/NAN)