In yet another indication that the situation in the Middle East could further escalate, Iran has warned Israel and said a renewed conflict could start a different phase of confrontation that would be different from the previous rounds, while also threatening the United States (US) over its naval blockade.
In an interview with Lebanon-based Al-Manar news outlet, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary Major General Mohsen Rezaei has also dismissed a plot to assassinate US President Donald Trump’s son Barron Trump and said the false information was spread by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which eventually disrupted Washington’s decision-making.
“We will send Netanyahu to hell,” Rezaei said. “We will prove that Netanyahuโs major mistakes have brought the end of the Zionist regimeโs existence closer.”ย
“Netanyahu has panicked Trump and disrupted his decision-making by spreading false news about an ‘Iranian plot to assassinate Trump’. Fearing this news, Trump moved around like a food truck worker,” he added.
The Lebanon front and Israel
The US and Iran have continued threatening each other following the collapse of the interim ceasefire that was signed in June, but this is the first time that the latter has warned Israel since then. Notably, as part of the interim deal, Iran wanted that all hostilities must stop on all fronts, including Lebanon. However, Tel Aviv has continued its operations against Beirut, drawing Tehran’s criticism.ย
Israel has also been criticised for allegedly targeting civilians in Lebanon, with Beirut on Thursday claiming that Israeli airstrikes in the southern part of the country killed a woman, even as the Israeli military maintained that it only targeted the Hezbollah hideouts.
To this, Iran has said it is monitoring the situation, as it continues to drag the conflict on, while Trump claims that the US is winning the war in the Middle East that began on February 28.ย ย
“We are monitoring the situation with full seriousness. Israel will be forced to withdraw from the occupied territories in Lebanon. If the conflict resumes, we are preparing ourselves for a new phase; any future war will be different from the previous ones,” Iran’s security chief told Al-Manar.
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