Iran Threatens Israel With 'Obliterating War' If It Attacks Lebanon
Iran's mission to the United Nations has put Israel and the world on notice, saying that if Israel launches an all-out war against Hezbollah in Lebanon the whole region will burn.
A Friday statement from Iran's ambassador warned the UN that any "full-scale military aggression" in Lebanon against Hezbollah will mean that "an obliterating war will ensue."
The Iranian statement continued by emphasizing that "all options, including the full involvement of all resistance fronts, are on the table" in a statement posted to X.
By "resistance fronts" Tehran means the militias it supports in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen will also ramp up their military activities. On a few occasions, Iraqi Shia militias have launched missiles and drones against southern Israel, as have the Houthis, with limited effect.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged this week that a "seven front war" could open up, in reference to all of Iran's proxies across the region.
For years already, Israeli jets have been regularly attacking 'Iranian assets' inside Damascus, also in a continued effort to weaken Assad, despite the presence of Russia's military primarily in the northwest coastal region.
Israel has meanwhile continued to pound Hezbollah positions in south Lebanon, amid continued fears of a bigger war at any moment. The US has even sent amphibious military ships closer to Israel and Lebanon in the Eastern Mediterranean to be ready to evacuate Americans if a bigger conflict ensues.
The Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper wrote Saturday, "In the past few hours, warplanes attacked several Hezbollah targets, including a military site for the organisation in the Zabqin area, two operational infrastructure sites in the Khiam area, and a Hezbollah building in the al-Adissa [Odaisseh] area."
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has told Israel and its allies that a war with no limits will ensue if Israel attempts to invade southern Lebanon. Some Israeli officials fear that the IDF could be stretched too thin if this happens, considering it's still in the thick of anti-Hamas Gaza operations in the south.
⚡️Hezb-Allah published footage of them striking the Barkat Risha site of the Israeli enemy army on the southern Lebanese border pic.twitter.com/8hLii7fIA5
— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) June 29, 2024
Most analysts agree that Hezbollah is far more capable a paramilitary and guerilla force than Hamas, or any other Iran-linked group in the region for that matter. In the 2006 Lebanon war, there were reports that IRGC operatives were on the ground in Lebanon assisting Hezbollah.