US and EU diplomats are holding urgent discussions around the Middle East in a race to try to head off the threat of a full-blown regional war in the wake of the eliminations of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut and Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, The Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Enrique Mora, one of the EU’s most senior diplomats, was holding critical talks with officials in Iran’s capital on Wednesday after the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran, which was blamed on Israel, as Brett McGurk, the White House’s top official in the Middle East, held discussions in Saudi Arabia, according to the report.

Officials said the talks were focused on convincing Tehran to either not respond or to carry out symbolic action, after Israeli diplomats told western interlocutors that their military did not plan further operations.

“Everyone since last night is putting pressure on Tehran to not respond and to contain this,” said one western diplomat involved in the discussions.

On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ordered his country to launch a direct strike on Israel as retaliation for the elimination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Three Iranian officials, including two members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, told the newspaper that Khamenei gave the order at an emergency meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council the morning after the elimination.

Mora, who is political director and deputy secretary-general of the EU’s foreign service, has extensive experience of negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program and was in Tehran for the inauguration of new President Masoud Pezeshkian when Haniyeh was eliminated, according to The Financial Times.

“Mora used his interactions with officials of the incoming Iranian administration in Tehran to convey the EU’s position on all issues of concern related to Iran in line with our policy of critical engagement,” said EU foreign policy spokesperson Peter Stano.

The Biden administration on Wednesday held urgent consultations with Israel as well as other allies and partners with influence over Iran to try to pull all parties back from the brink of conflict.

McGurk, who was in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as part of a previously scheduled trip, will next head to Cairo for further talks related to the Gaza war.

The White House tried to play down the likelihood of full-blown war on Wednesday. “We don’t believe that an escalation is inevitable and there’s no sign that an escalation is imminent,” US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, adding that the US is still trying to reach a ceasefire deal.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US had no prior knowledge or involvement in the strike on Haniyeh but said it underscored the importance of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

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