Israel will launch strikes against Iran’s nuclear program in the event that Tehran retaliates for the recent attack on its embassy in Damascus, a London-based Arabic outlet has reported, citing an anonymous Western security official.
Two generals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and several other officers were killed in the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus last week. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed that Israel will “receive a slap in the face” in return.
According to Elaph News, an Arabic-language online outlet operating from the UK, Israel has been training pilots to strike “sensitive sites” in Iran, potentially ones involved in Tehran’s nuclear program.
Elaph’s report was picked up by British tabloid The Sun, which posted a list of possible Israeli targets, ranging from the Arak heavy-water reactor and the Bushehr nuclear power station to the Gachin uranium mine and the Natanz uranium enrichment facility. The newspaper noted that an Israeli attack on any of them would mark an “unprecedented escalation” in the Middle East conflict.
The US “will remain supportive of Israel” and provide it with all the support, weapons, and equipment needed for this mission, a source told Elaph. US President Joe Biden has assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington will stand by West Jerusalem “in all circumstances,” the source added.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has already canceled all leave and begun spoofing GPS signals, in preparation for a possible Iranian reprisal. Several US media outlets, citing American intelligence sources, have reported that Tehran intends to use ballistic missiles and kamikaze drones to strike Israeli infrastructure once the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is over.
“Be certain, be sure, that the Iranian response to the targeting of the consulate in Damascus is definitely coming against Israel,” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech last Friday.
CNN, on the other hand, cited anonymous American spies who said Iran was “unlikely” to strike directly out of fear of US and Israeli retaliation, and would rely on various proxies in the region instead.