President Joe Biden will return to the White House this weekend to discuss the Middle East crisis with his national security team, cutting short a trip to his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, home.
Biden will return to Washington to “consult with his national security team about events in the Middle East,” the White House announced Saturday. The announcement comes amid rising tensions as American officials say Iran is expected to launch an attack on Israel.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to be at the meeting with Biden, according to CNN. The meeting will come hours after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized a ship near the Strait of Hormuz linked to Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group shipping company.
“The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have seized a Portuguese civilian cargo ship, belonging to an EU member, claiming Israeli ownership,” Israel Katz, Israel’s foreign minister, posted on X. “The Ayatollah regime of @khamenei_ir is a criminal regime that supports Hamas’ crimes and is now conducting a pirate operation in violation of international law.”
“I call on the European Union and the free world to immediately declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guards corps as a terrorist organization and to sanction Iran now,” he added.
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The U.S. has called for Iran to release control of the ship, saying it would hold the country accountable.
“We call on Iran to release the vessel & its international crew immediately,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. “It must be condemned unequivocally, & we will work with our partners to hold Iran to account for its actions.”
On Friday, Biden was asked at the National Action Network Convention about when Iran was expected to attack Israel. “I don’t want to say,” Biden said. “I don’t want to get into secure information, but my expectation is sooner than later.”
“We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel,” he added. “We will defend — help defend Israel. And Iran will not succeed.”