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On Friday evening, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper predicted that Iran will retaliate against Israel, following an Israeli missile strike that hit their consulate in Damascus, Syria. 

The Washington Post reported that the strike was in broad daylight, on a diplomatic building adjacent to Iran’s embassy in Syria, and led to the deaths of seven Iranian military advisors, including senior Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi. 

While Israel has not claimed responsibility for the strike, the IDF has made several operational changes, such as canceling leave for any IDF personnel and calling up additional reservists to bolster the force’s air defense systems on Israel’s northern border, and has been experiencing widespread GPS disruptions, believed to be deliberate attempts to confuse Israeli drones. The Telegraph reported.

Reuters cited a Lebanese security source as the first to identify Israel as the responsible party. A spokesperson from the Israeli military responded, “We do not comment on reports in the foreign media.”

In an interview on CNN, which Esper posted to his X account, the former Defense secretary predicted Iran will take action against Israel, but will attempt to avoid full-scale war in the Middle East.

“They are going to act,” Esper said Friday. “They're going to feel the need, to uphold their dignity, to maintain credibility with their proxies, throughout the region, and to really meet the demands of hardliners, within the theocracy that wants to see something done.” 

“But on the other hand, they're not going to want to make this a wider war,” he continued. “They don't want to escalate. They know that a major conflict with Israel, let alone Israel and the United States would be disastrous for Iran. So, I suspect that they will limit the attack to Israel, Israeli targets.”

Iran has said it reserves the right “to take a decisive response,” after the strike. Additionally, President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the Iranian threat on Thursday, Reuters reported. 

“Our teams have been in regular and continuous contact since then. The United States fully supports the defense of Israel against threats from Iran,” a senior Biden administration official told the outlet.

Two U.S. defense officials told Fox News that U.S. force posture hasn’t changed since the strike. The U.S. is monitoring the situation, but they say that no changes have been made to prepare for an Iranian attack. 

“Nothing has changed from a force projection standpoint,” one official said. 

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari reiterated the multifaceted conflict Israel is fighting, telling the Telegraph, “We are in a multi-front war. We are looking not only at Hamas but all our enemies. We look at all fronts and all threats in order to be ready for any scenario.”