U.S. and Israel brace for Iranian retaliation after Nasrallah's death
The United States government is collaborating with authorities in Tel Aviv on a defense plan amid fears of a planned Iranian attack on Israel in response to 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.
1:01 PM EDT, September 30, 2024
The preparations include repositioning US forces, the station reported, without providing further details. In April, the US led an international coalition that helped 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 support from the US, the UK, France, and Sunni Arab states, most of the missiles were shot down.
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 then vowed revenge, which has not yet occurred.
Escalation in the Middle East
The Shiite Hezbollah, which controls part of Lebanon, is a close ally of Iran and the strongest 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. Israel has been conducting massive operations against Hezbollah for several weeks; Hezbollah has been fighting Israel with varying intensity for decades. Since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip, there has been 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, alongside Nasrallah, other senior Hezbollah commanders and Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Abbas Nilforushan were also killed.
