Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani revealed yesterday (Friday) that Israel informed the United States about its counter-attack in Iran at the last minute. He said this as part of a gathering of the G-7 conference on the island of Capri in Italy.
Tajani said that the United States informed the Group of Seven industrialized countries that Israel had told it of the planned attack shortly before reports of strikes on the military base in the Isfahan area. According to him, "The United States was informed at the last minute but there was no American involvement in the attack itself. It was simply information provided."
At the same time, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also referred to the attack. "I do not intend to talk about the reports from Iran, but only say that the US was not involved in any offensive action," he was quoted as saying. When asked if the US had been provided advanced information about the attack, Blinken refused to answer.
Earlier today it was reported in Iran that the US informed Iranian sources that the attack would be measured and limited. According to the reports, in the conversation between the parties it was clarified that the Israeli attack would be short and not be accompanied by further strikes.
In the meantime, US officials believe that Iran will not respond and contain the incident under the assumption that its further response will lead to a regional escalation that it is not currently interested in.
The belief that Iran intends to contain the event has been strengthened by steps taken by the Islamic Republic, including the lifting of restrictions on its airspace. In addition, Iranian denials and attempts to dwarf the incident also indicate its intentions to put the story in the rear-view mirror - at least for the time being.