Key Points
The US government privately warned long-time antagonist Iran about a "terrorist threat" within its borders ahead of a deadly attack this month that was claimed by the Islamic State militant group, a US official said on Thursday.P)..
While the official said the warning about the Jan. 3 attack - two suicide bombings in the southeastern city of Kerman that killed nearly 100 people and wounded scores - was routine, analysts said it may imply a US effort to build trust with Iran..
Such an effort would come against the backdrop of attacks by Iran-backed proxies on Western interests, including the Oct. 7 Hamas rampage that killed some 1,200 in southern Israel and missile attacks on Saturday on an Iraqi air base housing US troops..
Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the CSIS think tank in Washington, said the warning may reflect a wider US desire to seek dialogue with Iran despite recent attacks by Iranian-backed proxies on US, Israeli and other Western interests and the advances of Tehran's nuclear program..
Efforts by Biden, a Democrat, to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal - which Republican former President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018 - have failed but Alterman suggested that Biden aides still wanted to explore ways to talk to Tehran..
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