Sal Emergui Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Updated Saturday, April 6, 2024-19:45
Middle East Iran's Axis closes ranks: "Israel will be buried in Gaza"
Tension Iran blames Israel for the attack next to its embassy in Syria and confirms the death of a Revolutionary Guard commander
The question is no longer if Iran will attack Israel but when, what, how and from where. The answer will indicate whether it is another chapter in the duel between two enemies who were allies before the Islamic Revolution in 1979 or the beginning of their
first open war
.
In the Biden Administration, they respond to the questions that have their Israeli ally on alert and the region in suspense since last Monday an Israeli airstrike killed seven officers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Damascus. In Washington, which since the Hamas attack on October 7 and the subsequent Israeli offensive has been trying to prevent the war in the Gaza Strip from spreading to the entire Middle East, they estimate that Iran has decided on a "significant" attack, presumably before May
Ramadan
end
in a few days.
The decisive question is whether Tehran will respond directly for the first time or as before through its militias in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria or Yemen. In Gaza, its other protégés
Hamas
and
Islamic Jihad
do not need the green light to fire projectiles against Israel in the devastating war that turns six months old this Sunday. The resolution of the mystery will indicate whether the regional framework in which Iran and Israel hit each other indirectly and without a signature is broken. If it decides, for example, to fire
ballistic missiles
from Iran, the Israeli Army will surely respond against its territory and not against pro-Iranian groups on the other side of its borders.
"(Israel's attack) will not go unanswered. We will determine the right moment, with the necessary precision and planning, and with
maximum damage to the enemy
in a way that makes him regret his action. The United States is the greatest accomplice of this crime" declared Iranian Army Chief of Staff Major General
Mohammad Bagheri
, promising that his "brave men will take revenge." According to him, the "Gaza fire" - which Tehran did not set but did encourage - "will continue until the collapse and destruction of this regime (Israel)."
His words, collected by the Tasnim agency, were made this Saturday at the funeral of Brigadier General Mohamed Reza Zahedi. Apart from the leader of the Al Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon and key to its armed infrastructure in the region, the missiles in Damascus - neither confirmed nor denied by Israel - ended the lives of its
number two
,
Haji Rahimi
, and the general
Hossein Aman Allahi
.
The commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guard, Hosein Salami, and the Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, also participated in Zahedi's farewell in Isfahan to express that his powerful organization "will respond to popular demands to punish the Zionist entity and its supporters behind the crime in Damascus".
"The US is on
high alert
and actively preparing for a significant attack by Iran that could occur as early as next week against Israeli or US assets in the region," a senior US official revealed to CNN while CBS reported that "the US obtained information "according to which Iranian retaliation will include
Shahed
suicide drones and cruise missiles." Nor does he rule out that the target is an
Israeli diplomatic facility
as a "proportionate response" to the attack on the annex of the Iranian embassy in Damascus. Other sources tell NBC that "it would probably focus on military or intelligence targets in Israel."
According to two Iranian sources, cited by the
New York Times
, their country put its Army on alert and decided that this time it would react directly "to create deterrence." Israel and the US believe that the attack could indeed come from Iran, although without leading to a war that could also harm its
nuclear program
.
Conversation between Biden and Netanyahu
In his latest tense conversation with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
,
Biden
expressed his criticism of the offensive in the Gaza Strip with regard to the
protection of civilians and humanitarian aid
, his desire for a immediate ceasefire (a new round of negotiations is planned in Cairo starting this Sunday) and unwavering support for any attack by Iran. These are more than just words since his Armed Forces in the Middle East are on alert and not only in case they are also targets. The US and Israel are synchronized - and not just their radars - to detect and neutralize any attack from land, air and sea by Iran or its militias.
"For years, Iran has been acting against us directly and also through its
proxies
and that is why Israel acts against Iran and its
proxies
on a defensive and offensive level," declares Netanyahu, warning: "
We will know how to defend ourselves
and we will act accordingly." to the simple principle that whoever harms us or plans to harm us, we will harm him.
Given the growing unrest among Israeli citizens proportional to the increase in Iranian threats and local and American leaks, the Army spokesman,
Daniel Hagari
, had to go on camera to calm down and clarify that there are no changes in the Civil Protection guidelines. On the other hand, he admitted that they interfered with the GPS in the center of the country "to neutralize threats." This is part of the defensive device against cruise missiles, drones and guided missiles.
Beyond shielding its embassies, Israel reinforced its anti-aircraft defense. Although it is true that it does not act (attack, cover, etc.) in the Gaza Strip as in the first months of the war,
the Air Force has been hyperactive for six months
to hit Hezbollah and other militias in an intense exchange of hits. The most significant attack against the Revolutionary Guard in recent years has opened a tense wait in the region.