Intelligence information

Israel-USA: growing concern about Tehran’s revenge

Demonstrations against Israel and the USA in Tehran(Bild: AFP)

The situation in the Middle East is becoming increasingly explosive. Israel has launched a new offensive against the terrorist organization Hamas in the central part of the Gaza Strip. This threatens to escalate the crisis between Iran, Israel and the USA. Some countries are taking initial measures.

The German airline Lufthansa has suspended all flights to the Iranian capital Tehran since Thursday. The Russian Foreign Ministry has issued a travel warning for Israel, Iran, Lebanon and the West Bank. This is based on intelligence information. Something is brewing.

Israel and US troops in the Middle East are preparing for a retaliatory strike by Iran and its allies. As revenge for the alleged Israeli air strikes in which seven high-ranking members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard were killed last week in the area of the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus.

Israel's army becomes active again in the central Gaza Strip(Bild: APA/AFP/Israeli Army)

Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, reiterated that Israel "must and will be punished for the attacks. They attacked the Iranian consulate. It is as if they attacked us on our soil," Khamenei said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unimpressed: "Whoever harms us or plans to harm us, we will harm them," he said a few days ago.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that Israel "will take offensive action against anyone who attacks our territory. No matter where it is in the Middle East." Israel is prepared for anything.

US troops are in the thick of it
In the middle of this exchange of blows are thousands of US troops at bases in Syria, Iraq and the Gulf states. Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian believes that the USA is partly responsible for the current crisis. They had given Israel the "green light" for the attacks. US President Joe Biden, who is increasingly criticizing Netanyahu for his actions in the Gaza war, assured Israel of his full support in the event of an Iranian attack.

When and where Iran and its allies could strike remains uncertain. Possible targets could be the sparsely occupied military facilities in northern Israel or one of the diplomatic missions. Those in the United Arab Emirates or in Muslim-majority Azerbaijan are a thorn in Tehran's side. If attacks were to take place there, Iran would lose a lot of credit in the region, writes the Al-Monitor network.

On the positive side, observers note that Iran has warned the US in the past via the mediating state of Oman of planned retaliatory attacks against US facilities in order to avoid major losses. So far, however, these channels have been quiet.

However, these warnings do not apply to an attack on Israel.