The Islamic Republic's attempts to assassinate Donald Trump in retaliation for his killing of top IRGC general Qassem Soleimani may have pushed the president-elect toward a direct strike on Iran during his second term, The New York Times reports.
"Trump was reluctant to attack Iran during his first time in office. But his view, aides say, may have been hardened by the Iranian government’s attempts to hire assassins to kill Trump," The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
The Israeli prime minister on Monday vowed to continue targeting anyone who tries to harm the Jewish state, amid growing calls by Israeli officials for more direct strikes on Iran in response to the ongoing attacks on Tel Aviv by Tehran-backed Houthis.
"Israel is consolidating its deterrent power, it is striking at those who seek to harm it, it is collapsing Iran's terror branches one after the other," Benjamin Netanyahu told the Israeli Knesset.
Netanyahu said Tehran was still "busy licking the wounds from the blows we inflicted on them", adding he had instructed the Israeli military in recent days to attack strategic targets of Yemen's armed Houthi group in response to their missile launches at Israel.
"It is neither the first nor the last. We have destroyed significant terrorist assets that the Houthis have used, and the principle we have set is very simple – whoever tries to harm us, we will hit him with uncompromising force," Netanyahu added, according to a translation by the Israeli website Ynet.
The Israeli military and its American allies have launched multiple air raids against the Houthis' positions in recent days, but have failed to stop Houthi attacks on Israel.
The spokesman for the Houthis said the Iran-backed group launched two drone attacks against targets in Israel's Ashkelon and Tel Aviv on Monday.
Some Israeli officials believe their country must directly target the Islamic Republic, which has publicly declared its support for Yemen's Houthis.
"The solution is in Tehran: if you want to stop the Houthis' firing, you have to hit Iran directly," Israeli National Unity Front leader Benny Gantz told a meeting of his faction on Monday.
Mossad chief David Barnea also recommended Israel's political echelon attack Iran instead of Yemen's Houthis, a Ynet report quoted him as saying on Sunday. "We have to go for the head, for Iran," Barnea said in discussions on the issue in recent days.
In October 26 retaliatory strikes again Iran, Israel took out nearly the entirety of Iran’s air defense system, according to Western officials including the UK's Chief of Defense Staff.
In his Monday remarks, Netanyahu stopped short of explicitly discussing further attacks on Iran in response to the Houthis' strikes but vowed to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
"We do not take our eyes off Iran that is threatening to eliminate us, and we are determined to stop Iran from reaching nuclear weapons as well as other weapons that could threaten our cities," he said.
Since May, top Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's adviser, Kamal Kharrazi, have warned that if Iran's nuclear installations are attacked, the Islamic Republic will shift its nuclear doctrine.
So far, Tehran has been insisting that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, in spite of having exceeded international limits on uranium enrichment and accelerating its nuclear program.
In October, 39 lawmakers called for changing the nuclear doctrine without mentioning an attack on nuclear facilities but citing tensions with Israel.
The calls for the pursuit of nuclear weapons have grown in Iran following the Israeli airstrikes destroying the Islamic Republic's air defense batteries.
Despite Iran's allied militias facing major losses across the region, the IRGC's commander spoke of their victory, while implying that Iran does provide weapons to its armed allies in the Middle East.
Hossein Salami on Monday channeled remarks by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s comments from the previous day asserting that Iran does not operate a proxy network in the region but rather has ideological allies.
“The enemies aim to burden the Iranian people with events that are far from victories and claim that Iran has lost its regional allies," Salami said.
“Iran has not lost its arms [in the region]—are the sons of Lebanon not still standing? Has Palestine surrendered? We share the same ideals, beliefs, and convictions with the Lebanese and Yemenis.”
Huge swathes of Hezbollah's leadership and military infrastructure, as well as its operatives, have been wiped out since September, including assassinated leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Reiterating a statement made on Sunday by the Supreme Leader, the commander also denied that Iran supported arming the groups, which include the Houthis in Yemen and Shia militias in Syria and Iraq.
"Everyone fights with their own capabilities; no one relies on anyone else. While we provide maximum spiritual and political support to the resistance front, they procure their own weapons just as we do," he said.
Just four days ago, the US issued more sanctions against Iran for what it called "support of proxies", referring to armed groups it deems terrorists such as the Houthis in Yemen.
It dates back years. In 2018, the US said that "In Iraq, credible reports indicate that Iran is transferring ballistic missiles to Shia militia groups. This comes as these militias carried out highly provocative attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Baghdad and Basra in September, which we know that Iran did nothing to stop."
Since the collapse of Tehran’s ally, Bashar al-Assad, in Syria earlier this month, Tehran is scrambling to explain the loss, which many see as a strategic defeat.
In a speech on Sunday, Khamenei attempted to downplay the weakening and defeats of Tehran’s regional allies and proxies. "They constantly say that the Islamic Republic has lost its proxy forces in the region! This is another mistake! The Islamic Republic does not have proxy forces. Yemen fights because of its faith; Hezbollah fights because its faith gives it strength to fight; Hamas and Jihad fight because their beliefs compel them to do so."
Iran has invested tens of billions of dollars and thousands of forces into Syria for years, with bases across the country and a heavy military presence. Iranian officials have acknowledged that Tehran has spent at least $50 billion in Syria sine 2011, when it began to send military advisers and, later, a mix of Iranian forces along with Afghan, Pakistani and Iraqi militias to defend Assad’s embattled rule.
At the end of his remarks, Salami once again denied arming the Palestinian group in Gaza, Hamas, despite multiple reports over the years of training, funding and weapons provision.
In January, the Associated Press published an investigation of more than 150 videos and photos taken in the three months of combat since Hamas launched its October 7 attack on Israel, showing the militant group had amassed a diverse patchwork arsenal of weapons from around the world, including Iranian sniper rifles.
After October 7, the Israeli military recovered Iranian-made AZ111 mortar round fuses and M112 demolition charges which it said were used in the invasion which led to the deaths of at least 1,100.
As far back as 2014's Gaza war, the Israeli military has been intercepting weapons smuggled from Iran.
One shipment contained 40 long-range M-302 rockets, 181 mortar shells, and approximately 400,000 7.62 caliber rounds.
“Palestine is alive; have they surrendered? They are still fighting. The pillars of the resistance act based on their own motivations, and everyone fights with their own capabilities, relying on no one. We support the resistance front, but they produce their own weapons.”
Just before the October 7 attacks, hundreds of Hamas militia had traveled to Iran for combat training, according to intelligence seen by the Wall Street Journal. The report said around 500 had had been led by officers of the Quds Force.
New information reveals that a commander in the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed by a Syrian officer serving in the army of embattled leader Bashar al-Assad in late November.
Iranian state media had previously attributed Kiumars Pourhashemi’s death to Assad's armed opposition forces.
On Sunday, December 22, the Chinese state-run CGTN's correspondent in Ankara reported, citing an Iranian security official, that Pourhashemi died after being shot by a Syrian officer during a meeting in a joint operations room in Aleppo.
According to the report by Yakup Aslan, the meeting included Iranian military advisors and Syrian army commanders and took place amid advances by rebel forces in the outskirts of Aleppo.
Earlier, on November 28, Iranian media had reported that Pourhashemi, also known as "Haj Hashem," was killed during attacks by Assad's opposition forces in Aleppo. The outlets referred to him as a senior advisor to Assad’s forces.
Aslan, a Turkish journalist whose reports are frequently cited by Turkish media, added in his report that IRGC commanders in the Aleppo operations room were pressuring Syrian army commanders to resist Assad's opponents and repel their attacks.
The report noted that IRGC commanders believed a counteroffensive against Assad’s opposition, supported by Russian airpower, was possible at the time. However, Syrian commanders hesitated to issue the necessary orders.
The Turkish journalist described the atmosphere in the Aleppo joint operations room as "tense." He added that during the meeting, "a Syrian general entered the room and opened fire," resulting in Pourhashemi’s death.
He characterized the incident as a reflection of "the deep collapse within the Syrian army" following the advances made by Assad’s opposition forces.
Armed opposition forces, in a surprise 11-day operation that began in Idlib and Aleppo, reached Damascus on December 9, bringing an end to five decades of Assad family rule in Syria.
Aslan quoted an Islamic Republic security official saying that the shooter who killed Pourhashemi belonged to a tribe that had withdrawn its support for Assad.
The official added that two months earlier, the Islamic Republic had provided the Syrian government with information and documents about the Syrian officer's connections to groups opposing Assad.
Tehran was one of Assad’s primary backers. Previously, two former members of Iran's parliament separately confirmed that the Iranian government spent at least $30 billion to keep Assad in power. By other estimates, Iran has spent upwards of $50 billion in the Syrian civil war.
On December 22, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed to reclaim Syria from Assad’s successors and urged the nation’s youth to resist the newly established government.
Observers view the recent developments in Syria as a blow to the Islamic Republic’s regional influence, believing that the end of Assad’s rule will shift the balance of power in the Middle East.
Barbara Leaf, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, emphasized on December 20, in response to an Iran International reporter's question, that the Islamic Republic should have no role in Syria’s future.
Israel's prime minister says his country will take forceful action against Yemen's Houthi rebels just as it did to other militant groups backed by Iran.
"As we acted with force against the terrorist arms of Iran's axis of evil, so we will act against the Houthis," Benjamin Netanyahu said during a meeting of the Security Cabinet in the northern Command of the army on Sunday.
"Only in this case, we are not acting alone. The United States, as well as other countries, see the Houthis as a threat not only to international shipping, but to the international order. Therefore, we will act with force, determination, and sophistication," the Israeli prime minister added. "I tell you, even if it takes time, the result will be the same result – as with the other terrorist groups."
The United States launched airstrikes against Houthi positions in the Yemeni capital Sana'a on Saturday, hours after the Tehran-aligned rebels fired a missile hitting a civilian area in Israel.
The Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of Yemen, launched a blockade of the Red Sea in November last year on the orders of Iran's Supreme Leader, following the outbreak of the Gaza war, in allegiance with Hamas.
While they originally set out to target Israeli-linked vessels in a bid to force a ceasefire, it has since spanned global commercial shipping, with multiple vessels hit in strikes and dozens of international seamen taken hostage.
The United States launched airstrikes against Houthi positions in the Yemeni capital Sana'a on Saturday, hours after the Iran-backed rebels fired a missile hitting a civilian area in Israel.
US CENTCOM forces conducted "precision airstrikes against a missile storage facility and a command-and-control facility operated by Iran-backed Houthis within Houthi-controlled territory in Sana'a," the US military announced in a statement.
CENTCOM said its strikes were aimed at "disrupting and degrading Houthi operations, such as attacks against US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and Gulf of Aden" amid the Houthis' maritime blockade.
Arab media reports say the strikes targeted Al-Hafa military camp and other military assets in Nuqum and Attan districts of Sana'a.
The US Air Force and US Navy assets, including F/A-18s, were involved in the Saturday airstrikes, the CENTCOM said.
Houthi-affiliated media outlets say Britain was also involved in the Saturday airstrikes, the US and UK having launched joint operations since last year's blockade of the Red Sea began by the group, designated terrorists by both nations.
In addition to Saturday’s operation, the US military said it had intercepted multiple Houthi-launched one-way drones and an anti-ship cruise missile over the Red Sea. The precision airstrikes followed a similar operation last week targeting another Houthi command-and-control facility.
The Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of Yemen, launched the blockade in November last year on the orders of Iran's Supreme Leader, following the outbreak of the Gaza war, in allegiance with Iran-backed Hamas.
While they originally set out to target Israeli-linked vessels in a bid to force a ceasefire, it has since spanned global commercial shipping, with multiple vessels hit in strikes and dozens of international seamen taken hostage.
Al-Arabiya reported Saturday that Houthi commanders had left Sana'a and relocated to other areas due to concerns about a potential attack by Israel or the US following an early Saturday attack on Tel Aviv which left at least 16 people injured when the missile fell in a civilian area in Jaffa, a mixed Arab-Jewish city.
The Houthis' strike on Tel Aviv followed Israeli airstrikes on Thursday targeting ports and energy infrastructure in Houthi-controlled Yemen, retaliation for almost daily firing from Yemen with hundreds of projectiles fired since the Gaza war began.
Before Thursday's Israeli strikes, a Houthi missile partially intercepted outside Israeli airspace crashed into an empty school building in Ramat Gan, north of Tel Aviv, causing significant damage.