Press
The conflict in the Middle East threatens to escalate further. Numerous countries are already calling on their citizens to leave Lebanon – now Iran is issuing a clear threat to Israel.
Beirut – Since the beginning of the Gazawar almost nine months ago, Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah almost daily. The military confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon have increased significantly in the border region in recent weeks. Now a warning has been sent from Iran to Israel: If the country begins a “comprehensive military aggression” against Lebanon, it will lead to a “devastating war,” wrote the U.N.-Iran’s mission in New York on Saturday at Platform X. Saudi Arabia then called on its citizens to leave Lebanon.
Iran warns Israel: “All options are on the table”
As the state-run Saudi news agency SPA reported on Saturday, the embassy in the Lebanese capital Beirut appealed to its citizens to leave the country “immediately.” Several European countries, including Germany, have been calling on their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately for days in view of the current conflict with Israel. “A further escalation of the situation and expansion of the conflict cannot be ruled out,” said the Foreign OfficeAn escalation could lead to a complete suspension of air traffic from Beirut International Airport, it said.
Iran’s UN mission wrote on Saturday that it was assumed that this was a case of “psychological warfare” by Israel. If this is not the case, however, “all options, including the full participation of all resistance fronts, are on the table,” the message on X continued. The so-called axis of resistance in Iran consists of the radical Islamist Hamasthe Hezbollah militia, the Houthi rebels in Yemen and other groups in Iraq and Syria. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the Iranian armed forces alone have an estimated troop strength of 580,000 soldiers and 200,000 reservists, while the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon has around 30,000 soldiers and up to 150,000 rockets.
If Israel launches military offensive in Lebanon: Iran’s Iraqi militias could escalate conflict too far
Just last week, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant asserted that his country did not want a war with the Hezbollah militia. At the same time, he made it clear that the Israeli army was capable of “taking Lebanon back to the Stone Age.” The Israeli military had previously declared that plans for an offensive in Lebanon had been “approved and confirmed.” Iran and Israel are considered arch enemies, and Tehran does not recognize Israel as a legitimate state. Iran supports the radical Islamist Hamas in the war in the Gaza Strip.
The decades-long conflict between Iran and Israel escalated on April 1, when seven officers of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard were killed in a suspected Israeli air strike on the grounds of the Iranian embassy in Damascus. Two weeks later, Iran retaliated by attacking Israeli territory for the first time. Both sides then tried to de-escalate the situation. Now the tone is becoming much harsher again.
Military experts warn of a second front in northern Israel and a conflagration in the Middle East. According to Saudi media, Iran and Hezbollah are also concerned that the Iraqi militias supported by Iran could escalate the war with Israel too far, according to a report The US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says that the Iraqi militias’ plans include sending weapons and fighters to Hezbollah if Israel launches a major military offensive in Lebanon. (bme with material from dpa)
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