Iran has warned that Israel has crossed the red lines in Gaza and its ground offensive may force everyone to take action. The stark statement from Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, marks an escalation of rhetoric from the Islamic Republic.

‘The crimes of the Zionist regime have crossed the red lines, and this may force everyone to take action,’ Raisi wrote. ‘Washington asks us to not do anything, but they keep giving widespread support to Israel. He went on to say the US has sent messages to the Axis of Resistance’ and received ‘a clear response on the battlefield’. The term ‘Axis of Resistance’ refers to Iranian allies across the region, including Hamas in Palestine, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Shiite militants in Iraq and Syria, and Yemen group Houthis.

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It’s unclear what Raisi meant with the reference to a clear response on the battlefield however there have been a string of alarming encounters between the US and rebels. In the past few days, a US Navy ship intercepted missiles launched by rebels in Yemen and two American bases in Syria briefly came under attack.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, US troops came under fire from rockets and weaponized drones. Tensions are running high across the Middle East and the US has dispatched two carrier groups to the eastern Mediterranean, hoping to send a message to Iran and its allies to stay out of the conflict. Some 2,000 American troops are also on standby for ground deployment if needed.

Ben Wedeman is CNN’s senior international correspondent based in Beirut Lebanon and wrote in an analysis piece that ‘across the Middle East the warning lights of more trouble to come are blinking red’. A combination of devastating factors is threatening to collide, Wedeman wrote. ‘It all amounts to this: the United States is careening closer to the very real possibility of direct involvement in a regional Middle Eastern war. ‘Now, at best, the US is scrambling to respond to events largely out of its control. ‘And in this dangerous terrain, suddenly the vulnerabilities of the sprawling American military presence across the Middle East are glaringly obvious.’

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In the past few days, a US Navy ship intercepted missiles launched by rebels in Yemen and two American bases in Syria briefly came under attack. Meanwhile, in Iraq, US troops came under fire from rockets and weaponized drones.

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