U.S. and Israel draft defence strategy amid Iranian threat
The United States government is collaborating with authorities in Tel Aviv on a defense plan amid fears of a potential Iranian attack on Israel following the death of Hassan Nasrallah, CNN reported on Monday, citing a source in the US government. The Hezbollah leader was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
The preparations include repositioning US forces, according to the station, although no further details were provided. In April, the US led an international coalition to help Israel defend against a barrage of hundreds of rockets and drones launched by Iran and its allies on the Jewish state in retaliation for the killing of several senior Revolutionary Guard officers in a Damascus airstrike. With the assistance of the US, the UK, France, and Sunni Arab states, most of the missiles were intercepted.
The US armed forces were preparing for a similar operation in early August when tensions in the region escalated after the death of Palestinian Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an attack attributed to Israel in Tehran. Iran vowed revenge, but it has yet to occur.
Escalation in the Middle East
Shiite Hezbollah, which controls part of Lebanon, is a close ally of Iran and a crucial link in the network of militant groups in the Middle East coordinated by Tehran and aimed at Israel and the US.
Nasrallah was killed on Friday in an airstrike on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. For several weeks, Israel has been conducting massive operations against Hezbollah, which has been engaged in varying degrees of conflict with Israel for decades. Since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip, there has been a regular exchange of fire on the Israeli-Lebanese border, forcing the evacuation of civilians on both sides of the border.
Iran's threat of attack
- Iran will not leave any of Israel's crimes unanswered. We are determined and will respond - Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani announced on Monday. Iran's supreme spiritual and political leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated on Saturday that Nasrallah's death "will not go unavenged" and called on Muslims to unite against the "vile regime" of Israel.
In Friday's attack on Beirut, along with Nasrallah and other senior Hezbollah commanders, Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Abbas Nilforushan was also killed.
