The US military has published a rare warning ad on the dating app Tinder, highlighting its readiness to counter threats by Iran and Hezbollah to attack Israel in retaliation for the killing of senior 'Resistance Front' leaders.
The ads published in Arabic included messages such as "Do not take up arms against the US or its partners" and "The US will protect its partners against threats from the Iranian regime and its proxies."
The advertisements which appeared on Tinder for users in Lebanon were posted along with images of warplanes and the logo of CENTCOM. "CENTCOM is fully prepared with F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters and A-10 Thunderbolt fighters already in the region."
It is not clear why the US military has chosen a dating app for its message to Iran. Hezbollah fighters are said to be banned from using cellphones as their location might be tracked. The Lebanese civilians seem to be the main audience of the message, even though they cannot do much to stop an Iran-led strike.
The warning comes amid concerns that the Iranian-Israeli tensions would lead to an all-out regional war. Iran has so far refrained from its promised retaliatory attack against Israel, while repeating the claim that it has not abandoned the plan to take revenge for the Israeli killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.
On Monday, Iran's top general stressed that “taking revenge for this criminal act, whether by the axis of resistance, or by the Islamic Republic of Iran, is certain."
“Members of the axis of resistance, each based on their capabilities and considerations, will carry out their revenge, some of which we witnessed yesterday,” Major General Mohammad Bagheri added, referring to the attacks on Israel by Hezbollah during the weekend.
Bagheri’s remarks can be read as a sign that Iran could opt out of an attack against Israel from its soil and limit its response to ‘proxy’ operations by Hezbollah and other armed groups in the region. Still, the US is continuing to boost its military presence in the region in anticipation of a major escalation.
"It's very difficult to know what the Iranians are thinking on any given day. They may remain prepared and postured should they want to conduct some sort of large-scale attack on Israel," White House national security spokesman John Kirby told Fox News on Tuesday. "That's why we remain prepared and postured to defend against that attack and to defend our own troops and facilities in the region."
Kirby said the US has got "a couple of (aircraft) carriers there right now and there are other assets, both air and ground based, available to the US. We're prepared and postured should we need to do that. We obviously don't want to see that outcome."
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has directed two aircraft carrier strike groups to remain in the Middle East, bolstering the US military presence amid Iran-Israel tensions, the Pentagon announced on Sunday.
