Blinken Departs Today On Fourth Mideast Trip Since Outbreak Of War

US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller has confirmed that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will depart today on his fourth Middle East trip since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October.

• Blinken's schedule will include visits to Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, and the West Bank for meetings with, "foreign counterparts and others," and likely include shuttle diplomacy Blinken has utilized in past trips to link communication between Israel, Gaza, and Arab states who don't retain formal diplomatic ties.
• Blinken's trip will focus on a "number of critical issues," including humanitarian assistance to Gaza, "ensuring October 7 cannot be repeated," plans to, "transition to the next phase of operations," how to ensure Gaza Palestinians can returns to their homes, steps to lower tensions in the West Bank, efforts to bring home American hostages, and preventing the conflict from expanding.
• Blinken's trip comes during a period of elevated tensions following flashpoints in Iran, Lebanon, the Red Sea, and West Bank which could threaten the conflict metastasizing into a regional war.
• In the past few hours ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Kerman bombings in Iran but the risk of Iran becoming embroiled directly in conflict with the West via its Yemini clients, the Houthis, remains non-negligible.
• A joint statement yesterday by 13 nations, including the US, warning of unspecified consequences for disruption on commercial shipping appears to have had little impact on Houthi activity in the Red Sea with reports of a drone boat explosion today.