中東での緊張緩和へ積極外交 米政権

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】ジョー・バイデン米大統領は５日、イランが対イスラエル攻撃の構えを見せているのを受け、ヨルダンのアブドラ国王と電話会談し、対応を協議した。（写真はジョー・バイデン米大統領）
　パレスチナ自治区ガザ地区を実効支配するイスラム組織ハマスの最高指導者イスマイル・ハニヤ氏が、テヘラン訪問中にイスラエルに殺害されたとされる事案で高まった中東の緊張緩和に向け、バイデン氏とアントニー・ブリンケン国務長官が外交攻勢をかけている。
　ホワイトハウスによると、バイデン氏はアブドラ国王との会談で、「（イスラエル、ハマス間の）即時停戦および人質解放合意を含む、地域の緊張の高まりを阻止するための努力について協議」した。
　一方、ブリンケン氏は、イスラエル、ハマス間の紛争で停戦交渉を仲介してきたカタール、エジプト両国の政府高官と電話で話し合った。
　ブリンケン氏はその後、ホワイトハウスでの対策会議で「われわれは積極的な外交活動をほぼ２４時間休みなしで続けている。メッセージは極めて単純だ。全ての当事者は対立を激化させるようなことを自制しなければならない」と述べた。
　さらに、「ガザでの停戦合意を締結し、この連鎖（対立激化）を断ち切ることが重要だ」と強調した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/08/06-17:40）

US President Joe Biden held crisis talks on Monday on a potential Iranian counterattack on Israel as his administration said it was working around the clock to avoid all-out war in the Middle East.
Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken engaged in frantic diplomacy to try to ease tensions sparked by a suspected Israeli attack that killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
The president called King Abdullah II of Jordan, which helped down Iranian drones and missiles in an earlier showdown in April, while Blinken called top officials in Qatar and Egypt, the key intermediaries seeking a ceasefire in the 10-month Israel-Hamas war.
We are engaged in intense diplomacy, pretty much around the clock, with a very simple message -- all parties must refrain from escalation, Blinken said after joining other top officials in a White House meeting.
It's also critical that we break this cycle by reaching a ceasefire in Gaza, said Blinken, who has also spoken since Sunday with G7 counterparts and Iraq's prime minister.
On Monday, multiple US personnel were injured in a rocket attack on a base in Iraq, adding to the already heightened regional tensions.
Biden had been hoping in his final months in office to end the Gaza war and work on clinching a landmark deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Instead, he has boosted the US military presence in the Middle East in a show of strength to Iran.
After staunchly backing Israel's war against Hamas, Biden has made clear his frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the killing of Haniyeh, who was involved in the ceasefire negotiations.
Blinken, who has warned that Iran could strike soon, made a new pitch for Biden's ceasefire plan that would freeze fighting in Gaza and return hostages seized in the October 7 mega-attack on Israel by Hamas.
A ceasefire will unlock possibilities for more enduring calm, not only in Gaza itself, but in other areas where the conflict could spread, Blinken said as he met Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
In a veiled allusion to US frustrations, Blinken said, What it really comes down to, really, is all parties finding ways to come to an agreement, not look for reasons to delay or to say no.
It is urgent that all parties make the right choices in the hours and days ahead, he said.
- Fears of spiraling conflict -
Biden met in the White House's heavily secured Situation Room with his national security team including Vice President Kamala Harris.
He flew to the White House after a weekend home in Delaware, and after a kiss for First Lady Jill Biden, he headed straight into the Oval Office without commenting to reporters.
The White House said that Biden and the Jordanian king in their call discussed their efforts to de-escalate regional tensions, including through an immediate ceasefire and hostage release deal.
King Abdullah called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire to end the catastrophe in Gaza and for ceasing all escalatory measures, according to a readout by the Jordanian royal court.
Iran fired directly at Israel in April, taking their long shadow war into the open following a strike on an Iranian diplomatic building in Syria.
The United States helped intercept the drones and missiles, and damage was minimal.
But Jordan -- in a delicate position with its large Palestinian population and a peace deal with Israel -- has insisted it does not want to be a battleground.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that in April, we were able to chart a path that ultimately got us through that time without tipping into a wider war.
But every time you have one of these cycles of escalation, you have a risk of parties miscalculating, you have the risk of them taking actions that get out of hand, Miller told reporters.