Risk of broader war eased 'somewhat' after Israel-Hezbollah clash: US general

The near-term risk of a broader war in the Middle East has eased somewhat after Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah exchanged fire without further escalation, but Iran still poses a significant danger as it weighs a strike on Israel, America's top general said on Aug 26.

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Air Force General Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke to Reuters after emerging from a three-day trip to the Middle East that saw him fly into Israel just hours after Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at the country, and Israel's military struck Lebanon to thwart a larger attack.

It was one of the biggest clashes in more than 10 months of border warfare, but it also ended with limited damage in Israel and without immediate threats of more retaliation from either side.

Gen Brown noted that Hezbollah's strike was just one of two major threatened attacks against Israel that emerged in recent weeks.

Iran is also threatening an attack over the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran in July.

Asked if the immediate risk of a regional war had declined, Gen Brown said: “Somewhat, yes." "You had two things you knew were going to happen. One's already happened. Now it depends on how the second is going to play out," he said while flying out of Israel.