Iran has threatened an “annihilating war” if Israel launches a full-scale attack on Lebanon, as diplomats work to prevent tensions between Israel and the Tehran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah from escalating into all-out conflict.
In a post on Chief among those groups is Hezbollah, a powerful militia that dominates southern Lebanon.
At the same time, Iran dismissed warnings from Israeli officials that Israel could invade Lebanon as “psychological warfare.”
Israel and Hezbollah, enemies for decades, have frequently exchanged fire along Israel’s northern border. Since the war in Gaza began last October, Hezbollah and the Israeli military have stepped up cross-border attacks. Israeli officials have warned for months that Israel could invade Lebanon if Hezbollah did not withdraw its forces from the border area. Hezbollah has also threatened to launch an incursion into Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with Biden administration officials in Washington last week, largely to discuss friction along the border with Lebanon.
US officials are keen to avoid an escalation in which Iran and Israel directly trade blows again, following back-and-forth airstrikes in April. Political analysts say Iran also appears to want to avoid direct confrontation.
During his visit to Washington, Gallant told US officials that Israel did not want a full-scale war with Hezbollah either, but was prepared to hit the group hard if provoked.
On Thursday, the State Department again issued an advisory warning Americans against traveling to Lebanon, stressing that the Lebanese government “cannot guarantee the protection of U.S. citizens from sudden outbreaks of violence and armed conflict.”
Analysts and officials have said stopping the fighting in Gaza would be the surest way to calm tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
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