2024-04-09T14:23:11+00:00
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/ A Western security official confirmed that Israel will strike targets inside Iran, including nuclear reactors, if the latter responds to the attack that targeted the Iranian consulate in Damascus, and bombed sites inside Israel.
According to a report reported by the Times of Israel website, in recent days, the Israeli army conducted secret Air Force training by flying different types of fighters, marching over long distances, conducting maneuvers, and targeting sensitive sites in Iran that may be facilities belonging to Iran’s nuclear project.
American media previously reported, citing Iranian and American intelligence sources, that Iran is planning to strike dozens of sensitive targets in Israel, including energy production infrastructure facilities and other various sites, using ballistic missiles and suicide drones.
Analysts saw the raid as an escalation of Israel’s campaign against Iran and its regional proxies, which risks sparking a broader war that goes beyond the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Both Iran and Hezbollah vowed to retaliate for the strike. Advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, threatened Israeli embassies, telling the Iranian Students News Agency on Sunday that “the embassies of the Zionist regime are no longer safe.”
In televised statements last Friday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that an Iranian response is coming.
Nasrallah said, “Be certain, certain, that the Iranian response to targeting the consulate in Damascus will definitely come against Israel.”
After an assessment conducted on Sunday by senior Israeli army officers, Defense Minister Yoav Galant said that Israel is ready to respond to any attack by Iran, and that it has “completed preparations to respond to any scenario that might lead to that,” according to the “Times or Israel” website.
Israel has been on high alert over the past week amid Iranian officials’ promises of revenge for an air strike in Damascus that killed their top commander in Syria, Mohammad Reza Zahedi; Along with six other members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and at least one member of the Iranian-affiliated Hezbollah group.
“Iran will not attack directly.”
However, unnamed US intelligence sources told CNN that Iran is unlikely to attack Israel directly for fear of US and Israeli retaliation, and will instead urge its various proxies in the region to launch attacks on its behalf in the coming days.
It should be noted that there are informed sources warning that the future of the region, especially with regard to the tension between Iran and Israel, may be fraught with dangers. Despite Iran’s assurances that it will respond forcefully in the coming days, on the one hand, Israel threatens to respond twice as strong if it is exposed to any attack by Iran.