US worried Iran's retaliation would be mass-casualty event: Sources
US President Donald Trump's special envoy to West Asia, Steve Witkoff, has privately warned top US Senate Republicans that Iran could unleash a mass-casualty response in the event of an Israeli attempt to bomb its nuclear facilities, official sources in the US say.
As Iran and the US prepare to kick off the sixth round of talks in Oman on Sunday, Trump's envoy has sounded the alarm about what could come next should the negotiations fail to yield the concessions the US demands.
In a closed-door briefing on Iran last Thursday, Witkoff told a group of prominent US Republican senators that military strikes by Israel are on the table if no agreement is reached.
However, the US official has stated that Iran's retaliation could overwhelm Israel's defenses and cause heavy damage.
The serious repercussions of a military attack against Iran, along with the U.S.'s unconditional support for the Israeli regime, compelled the United States to send Central Command forces led by Erik Kurilla to the occupied Palestinian territories on Saturday to discuss Iran.
On Tuesday, Kurilla said an Israeli strike on Iran would expose US forces in West Asia to the threat of Iranian retaliation.
For that reason, the US is evacuating non-essential staff from its Baghdad embassy and family members of military personnel from several bases in the Persian Gulf.
Moreover, the US State Department imposed security restrictions on Thursday on US diplomats and their families in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli regime's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is reportedly waiting for a green light from Trump to bomb Iran. However, US officials, including the US president, are worried about the consequences of such a move.
According to an Israeli official, Witkoff spoke Wednesday with Netanyahu about the rising tensions and will meet his top adviser, Ron Dermer, on Friday ahead of his trip to Oman, along with Mossad Director David Barnea.
The US envoy also said that since the previous Iranian missile strike on Israel in October 2024, Iran has significantly increased production of ballistic missiles to around 50 per month.
He added that Iran’s goal is to produce more ballistic missiles than the number of missile defense interceptors Israel has.
A senior Iranian security official says the Islamic Republic is at its “highest level of military readiness” and warns that any act of aggression by the United States or Israel would be met with a swift and unexpected response that will surely surprise the enemies of the revolution.
Earlier this week, Leader of the Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei declared that uranium enrichment is a vital technology and an inalienable right of the Islamic Republic of Iran—one it will never relinquish.
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