IRAN ISSUES DIRE WARNING AS ISRAEL PLANS NEXT MOVE

▶ Tehran has ‘fingers on the trigger’ ready to strike nuclear installations, IRGC general claims

Iran has warned that an Israeli strike on its nuclear sites would be met by a response in kind, and said such an attack would also prompt Tehran to reconsider its commitment to nuclear agreements.

Brig Gen Ahmad Haghtalab, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps unit responsible for protecting Iran’s nuclear sites, said they were “fully secure”.

However, he said, Israel’s nuclear assets “have been identified and the Islamic republic has accessed the necessary data on all targets”.

“To respond to their possible action, we have fingers on the trigger to launch powerful missiles to destroy the identified targets,” Brig Gen Haghtalab was quoted as saying by state media on Thursday.

Iran would use “advanced weapons” against Israeli nuclear assets in response to an attack on its own sites, he added.

Iran has declared 21 installations to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has also inspected sites where uranium particles have been detected, some of which were enriched to more than 80 per cent – close to the level required to create a nuclear weapon.

Tehran denies it is trying to build such a weapon but has obstructed IAEA inspections and failed to account for uranium traces at undeclared sites. Iran no longer abides by limits on uranium enrichment that it agreed to under a 2015 agreement that was abandoned by the US in 2018.

If Israel “intends to resort to the threat of attacking our nuclear facilities as a means to put pressure on Iran, reviewing the current doctrine and nuclear policies of the Islamic republic and distancing from past considerations is possible and conceivable,” Brig Gen Haghtalab said.

Meanwhile, the Israeli government is divided on how to respond to Iran’s drone and missile strike last weekend, with some ministers said to be furious that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to launch a retaliation.

Reports have emerged that most Israeli ministers favour a strong response against Iran.

However, this would put Mr Netanyahu on a collision course with crucial allies, which

this week have been pushing for de-escalation amid fears of an all-out regional war.

Last weekend’s barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles was Iran’s first direct attack on Israel.

It came in response to an Israeli strike on Tehran’s embassy complex in Damascus, which killed two IRGC generals and several other officers.

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the response to Iran’s attack should inflict a “disproportionate toll” and “rock Tehran” so that its leaders “regret the moment they even thought about firing”.

Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir blamed the lack of a response to Iran’s attack for a Hezbollah drone strike on a community centre in northern Israel on Wednesday.

The government’s hesitance over Iran “cost us wounded fighters”, Mr Ben-Gvir said, after the militia’s attack on a Bedouin border village injured at least 14 Israeli soldiers.

But Aryeh Deri, head of the coalition Shas party and an ally of Mr Netanyahu, appeared to break ranks when he said Israel should not hit Iran, but should focus on defeating Hamas in Gaza, freeing hostages and fighting Hezbollah in the north.

Israel’s enemies, he said, are hoping the country will be forced to fight on more fronts.

“We do not need to be dragged to that place,” he added.

Israel’s policy of deterrence has been a focus within its political and military realms, and is considered a crucial component of national security.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the Netanyahu government has hurt this policy.

“This government, this Prime Minister, have become

Among the options reportedly being considered are strikes on Iranian ships and a major cyber attack

an existential threat to Israel. They have shattered Israeli deterrence,” he added.

US media said Israel had cancelled at least two planned responses to the Iranian attack over the past week, with any retaliation unlikely to take place until after Passover next week.

Among the options reportedly being considered are strikes on Iranian ships and a major cyber attack.

On Thursday, a US official denied reports that the White House had approved an Israeli incursion into Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, in exchange for a “limited” retaliation against Iran. “This is not true and not something that has been discussed,” the official told The National.

Meanwhile, concerns continue to grow over a possible escalation in Israel’s border clashes with Hezbollah.

“Israel’s response to Iran might be a stronger and fiercer war with Hezbollah,” a source close to Tehran told The National on Thursday.

“This could be the price, but Iran and Hezbollah are prepared for all possibilities.”