Netanyahu warns Iran: We will harm anyone who attacks Israel
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU has vowed to “harm” anyone who attacks Israel amid fears that Iran is poised to launch an unprecedented direct missile strike on its enemy.
The Israeli prime minister said “whoever harms us, we will harm them” after US intelligence officials warned that Tehran was preparing a strike that could plunge the Middle East into a new war.
Israeli jets carried out drills simulating a strike on Iran, local media reported yesterday, while Western and Arab diplomats scrambled to persuade the Islamic republic against military action.
Rear-adml Daniel Hagari, Israel’s chief military spokesman, said civilians were not being told to make any special preparations but said Israel was “highly prepared for a range of scenarios”.
Elite Iranian forces based in Syria have moved into civilian hotels in anticipation of Israeli retaliation, security sources said.
Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s leader, has promised to take revenge for the killing of senior generals in an Israeli drone strike in Damascus in April. Iranian state-media said the nature of the response had been decided and “punishment” would be heavy.
Last night, Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, said: “Iran must not draw the Middle East into a wider conflict. I am deeply concerned about the potential for miscalculation leading to further violence. Iran should instead work to de-escalate and prevent further attacks.”
Senior US Republicans have demanded that Joe Biden order the military to join Israel in a “devastating” response to any Iranian attack.
Tom Cotton, a Republican senator, warned that Israel was facing an “imminent” attack from Iran. He said: “President Biden needs to warn the Ayatollahs immediately that the US will back Israel to the hilt and the joint American-israeli
retaliation for any attack will be swift and devastating,” Mr Cotton said.
Open warfare between Israel and Iran would be an unprecedented escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Iranian-backed terrorist group in Gaza behind the Oct 7 massacre.
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, said that the “threats from Iran are completely unacceptable” and stressed that “we have always said that we will support Israel’s ability to defend itself ”.
Marco Rubio, a senior Republican on the US senate intelligence committee, said the tensions marked “the most dangerous Middle East moment since 1973,” referring to the Yom Kippur war. The Telegraph understands that several senior Iranian security and intelligence officials in Damascus moved two days ago to civilian hotels for secret military meetings, converting them into operations rooms to discuss military plans.
A security source said both hotels were hosting members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who work in Syria, and Iran had transferred them there to ensure their safety after last week’s attack in Damascus.
Yesterday, Iranian diplomats said Tehran will soon respond to the Damascus attack, and claimed this could have been avoided had the strike been condemned by the UN Security Council.