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Why was the Zionist regime caught off guard?
Amirreza Moghimi, a Ph.D. student in Middle Eastern Studies: One of the most fundamental consequences of the ‘Al-Quds Operation’ for the Zionist regime is the defeat of its security intelligence organizations. The number one mission of intelligence organizations is to prevent ‘strategic surprise’ in political systems; something that the Zionist regime experienced during the Al-Quds Operation.
Israel had not been caught off guard in many of the wars it had with the region’s countries, and even in the Yom Kippur War of 1973, the Zionist regime’s intelligence organizations warned Israeli leaders of the attack. It was these political leaders who were caught off guard. However, in the Al-Quds Operation, the security organizations of the Zionist regime were completely caught off guard, and this surprise was not tactical, but strategic.
Ronin Bar, the commander of the intelligence of the Zionist regime’s army (AMAN), admitted this failure in an interview and took responsibility for it. Nevertheless, there could be many reasons why the Zionist regime’s intelligence apparatus was caught off guard. The most important factor was the regime leader’s incorrect perception of Hamas and Hamas’s ‘confidence-building’ strategy in recent years.
The viewpoint of the Zionist regime leaders towards Gaza and Hamas was quite different from what happened in the Al-Quds Operation. Israeli leaders considered Hamas a ‘necessary evil’ whose presence benefits the Zionist regime. One of the most credible reasons to mention is the ‘2023 Strategic Review Document of Israel,’ which is published annually by the ‘Israeli National Security Studies’ and authored by senior military and political analysts of the Zionist regime.
In a part of this document dedicated to the Palestine issue, the authors consider discussions related to the West Bank and the loss of legitimacy of autonomous Palestinian organizations as the most significant threats on the Palestinian front, not to mention war with Hamas. However, an interesting point is the authors’ viewpoint towards Hamas. They believe, ‘Israel currently has no alternative to Hamas’ governance in Gaza because there is no more moderate and responsible leadership that could take control. Therefore, Israel, in practice, recognizes Hamas officially and helps it (to some extent, by reconstructing infrastructures in Gaza, providing work permits for Gaza workers in Israel, and expanding trade to and from Gaza).’
Such a perception can also be inferred from the statements of analysts and even senior officials of the Zionist regime; for instance, many Zionist officials associated Hamas’ non-participation in the last two wars of Islamic Jihad against the Zionist regime with the rationality of Hamas leaders and the deterrent power of the Zionist regime. This process had even reached a point where Tzachi Hanegbi, the head of the Zionist regime’s Security Council, had said, ‘Hamas is deterring for at least the next fifteen years’.
Besides, in recent years, the main scenarios of the Zionist regime in an intense and comprehensive war were focused on the northern front and combating Hezbollah, and the army of the Zionist regime has almost not arranged any heavy maneuvers in the Gaza Strip for 15 years. In this regard, Orna Mizrahi, a senior researcher at the Israeli National Security Studies Center, says: ‘In recent years, the Israeli army has been prepared for a war scenario with Hezbollah and has conducted exercises to respond to its combined attack, which includes extensive rocket fire into Palestine and a ground attack by this organization’s commando force.
A plan that Hezbollah devised and Hamas executed on October 7.’ Brian Katz, Deputy Defense Minister for American Policy, also believes: ‘Israel, with the belief that the threat from Hamas is predictable and controllable, has probably devoted its best technical capabilities and human intelligence to apparently more significant threats from Iran and Hezbollah.’
However, it should be added that Hezbollah’s deceptive plan to set up two tents on the Lebanon border with the Zionist regime and push all of Israel’s focus to the northern front, as well as increasing tensions in the West Bank, which the Zionist regime saw as its major threats, have not been ineffective in surprising the security institutions of the Zionist regime and also in ignoring Hamas movements in Gaza.
Therefore, in the writer’s opinion, the main reason for the surprise of the military-security organizations of the Zionist regime should be sought in Hamas’s ‘confidence-building’ strategy over the last three years. During this time, despite the two attacks of the Zionist regime on Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Hamas remained silent and did not resort to arms. On the other hand, it tried to focus its actions on the West Bank and not to show any obvious activities in the Gaza Strip that would indicate the beginning of an attack and practically created this perception among Israeli leaders that it follows a ‘live and let live’ policy, trying merely to maintain control over Gaza.
However, in addition to this factor, issues such as overreliance on artificial intelligence, internal tensions, the preoccupation of the Zionist regime’s intelligence organizations with domestic issues, and holding forty-seven weeks of protests in Israel, resulting in the erosion of the military-security institutions, as well as information leakage and systemic error should also not be overlooked.
In short, the Al-Aqsa storm is a significant intelligence failure for a regime that was immersed in the glory of having a powerful and invincible security apparatus. The impact of this operation is such that Jonathan Conricus, the former spokesperson of the Zionist regime’s army, stated: ‘This attack is comparable to ‘Pearl Harbor,’ and after that, everything in Israel will change.’ The loss of the Zionist regime’s deterrent power, along with the undermining of the credibility of Israeli intelligence and security institutions, alongside questioning the technological power of this regime, is a blow that the leaders of the Zionist regime will not be able to repair for years.
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Murderer! Vietnam is waiting for you
Biden, after announcing the news of deploying this fleet, said in an apparently deterrent message, ‘We have clearly told the Iranians to be careful.’ In response to these words, Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iran’s Foreign Minister, warned the West that the continuation of Zionist crimes in Gaza would bring the northern front, meaning Hezbollah in Lebanon, into the war: ‘You can’t tell Hezbollah to restrain themselves and then tell Netanyahu to commit any crime he wants.’
In the exchange of these messages, Hezbollah launched a calculated campaign along the northern border and targeted the positions of the Israeli Defense Forces with anti-tank missiles. They disabled observation posts and made efforts to infiltrate the borders. Also, resistance groups, in response to American threats and direct interventions in the war, targeted several US bases in the region, warning the American side of the risk of igniting a larger war.
These messages might not have been properly received in Washington, as on Friday morning, the US attacked two bases belonging to resistance groups in eastern Syria. This attack did not go unanswered, and a little later, the US bases in the Omar oil field in northeastern Deir ez-Zor were targeted by six missiles, and the Ain al-Asad base was targeted by drones to send a stronger signal to Washington.
From the beginning of the war until today, despite full support for Zionist crimes, the Biden administration has warned Tel Aviv against a ground invasion of Gaza. Because, unlike the caught-off-guard Zionist army, Hamas had preplanned the operations and was already prepared for possible responses. Moreover, Americans were sure that an Israeli ground attack on Gaza would increasingly make the resistance aggressive and bring their feet onto the battlefield, and in such a situation, American non-intervention or intervention would be very costly.
Some analysts believe that America’s involvement in the war could ignite the flames of World War III. This is exactly what America has been trying to prevent so far, as nobody knows what the fate of the world will be after intervention in the region. Recently, Robert Gates, the United States Secretary of Defense under George W. Bush and Barack Obama, outlined a portion of today’s global reality in Foreign Affairs. He wrote, ‘The United States now faces more serious threats to its security – perhaps ever – than in the past decades. Never before had it faced four nuclear-armed formidable adversaries – Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran – whose collective nuclear arsenal could almost double within a few years.’
How Real is the War?
America needs the support of its public opinion for intervention in the war. Perhaps, in the initial days of this war, a significant portion of Americans would support the Zionist regime, but they are not in favor of America’s intervention in West Asia. This is demonstrated by the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll. According to this poll, released on October 13th, six days after the war, nearly eight out of ten Americans are afraid that the war between Israel and Hamas will lead to a broader war in the Middle East. This concern has, of course, been conveyed to Western media, and analysts have warned the Biden administration in this regard.
For instance, CNN, expressing concern about the ‘very real possibility’ of direct American involvement in a ‘regional war’, wrote, ‘This is not the 1991 campaign to expel Saddam Hussein’s army from Kuwait, nor the 2003 invasion of Iraq, both of which were carried out with months of planning and preparation, and then the United States and its allies determined the timing, location, and scale of the attack. Now, at best, the United States is trying to respond to events largely beyond its control, and suddenly the vulnerabilities of the widespread military presence of America across the Middle East are exposed. The United States has forces in northeastern and southeastern Syria. The United States also has a military presence in Iraq. These forces are valuable targets for the Axis of Resistance in any war.’ According to CNN, ‘The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has gained valuable military experience in Syria and Iraq.
This American media has claimed that Tehran has provided training and arms to Yemen, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. CNN has made an interesting comparison of the costs of deploying forces, writing, ‘While transferring a soldier or marine from the United States to the Middle East costs thousands of dollars, the cost of getting a Revolutionary Guard soldier to Baghdad, Damascus, or Beirut is just a bus ride.’
The CNN writer, to highlight the multiple fronts that have been created against Washington, has referred to Washington’s situation during World War II: ‘After the December 7, 1941, attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt was, in a way, fortunate. World War II became a two-front war, engaging with allied forces in the Atlantic Ocean and Europe, as well as in the Pacific Ocean. Today, President Joe Biden faces more complicated and dangerous tasks; the prospect of a five-front war with fewer allies. This five-front war is not entirely ‘hot’, however, escalating is an increasing threat.’
CNN has introduced the first two fronts as China and Russia, writing, ‘China is an economic and military superpower. Russia is military, and both are testing and challenging America’s global leadership.’ This media has warned that ‘The United States may have the world’s strongest army, but as America’s defeats in Vietnam and Afghanistan have proven, this is no guarantee of victory over a determined and cunning enemy.
The war will destroy America’s bases. America’s deterrent messages do not have their previous deterrence, and it seems that in the region, no country or group aligned with the resistance is particularly worried about it. Hezbollah of Lebanon, as it warned at the beginning of the war that it would engage in battle in case of a ground invasion of Gaza, seems not to be worried and still warns that it might enter the war. The ‘American Century Foundation’ quoted Hezbollah as saying that the Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah in a rally in Beirut said that Hezbollah knows its responsibilities well. ‘We are ready and fully prepared, and the international sides’ contacts behind the scenes to ensure our non-interference in this battle will have no effect on us.’
According to this American foundation, if the United States directly intervenes in the war by bombing Hezbollah in Lebanon, retaliatory attacks against US targets across the region will probably begin. Members of the resistance axis in Iraq and Yemen have threatened to act if America enters the war. The head of Iraq’s Badr Organization recently said, ‘If they intervene, we will intervene. If America directly enters this battle, we will consider all American targets legitimate, and we will not hesitate to target them.’
Other Iraqi paramilitary leaders have also made similar threats. The leader of the Yemeni movement also said, ‘If the Americans directly militarily intervene, we are ready to participate, including missile launches, drones, and any military option that is available to us.’ In such a war, when Hezbollah is attacking both Israel and the United States targets from Lebanon, Iraqi groups can attack American forces in Iraq and Syria. The Houthis might attack US interests in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates or just directly attack America’s partners. The escalation of violence could even lead to direct engagement with Iran. The Century Foundation has called the results of this engagement ‘disastrous’ and its consequences ‘chaos, destruction, and a high number of dead Americans.
Why is there no horizon of victory for Biden?
- America has experienced every kind of defeat in the wars of West Asia. Defeat in the single theatre of Iraq against a collection of various resistance groups such as the Sadr movement and the Badr Corps, defeat in the single theatre of Afghanistan against the singular group of the Taliban, while Washington was present in Afghanistan with a coalition of countries and benefited from the support and companionship of Afghan currents. Logically it is clear that America, which has been defeated repeatedly in limited wars, is not able to fight on a wide front where several countries, members of the axis of resistance, and dozens of resistance groups present in them, are coordinated with each other; let alone achieve victory.
- When America occupied Afghanistan and Iraq, there was no serious competitor for this country on the global stage. Today, however, Russia, with the Ukraine war, has challenged Washington, and according to American officials like Lloyd Austin, the Defense Secretary of this country, “China is the only country that has the power and will to challenge America” and can become “a power equal” to this country. If the costs and tribulations of the two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, along with the economic crisis of 2008-2009, made the conditions for ending the unipolar order possible, America’s involvement in the current situation will put Washington in a worse position. Antony Blinken explicitly announced on Friday, September 23, at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, that the increasing geopolitical competition of America with Russia and China signifies the “end of the post-Cold War global order.” Losing the unipolar system and competing to gain a superior position in a multipolar system resulted from defeats and the deviation of Washington’s resources in the wars of West Asia; wars that initial victory in them was guaranteed. However, it is not clear how a significantly weakened America compared to the 2000s intends to enter a new regional war with a broader level of pervasiveness and expect to achieve strategic results from it.
- America intends to enter a regional war to save the Zionist regime, but unexpectedly, if this war occurs and becomes prolonged, the regime will collapse even before the complete end of the war. In other words, the goal that America has in mind for entering a regional war will immediately bring about an adverse result. The current situation of the Zionists results from the launch of less than 10,000 rockets and the operation of two thousand Hamas militants from the besieged Gaza Strip; a situation that has put Tel Aviv on the brink of collapse. The regime’s situation in a regional war, where everyone will smash their heavy and advanced missiles on the Zionists, and tens of thousands of forces from Lebanon and Syria will invade the occupied territories, is obvious.
Half a Century of Defeat History
After World War II, communism, which had created the Soviet dragon in the international system, dominated China in 1948 and also swallowed Vietnam. Therefore, the independence of Vietnam and North Korea, which were bodies of global communism and considered the main competitors of American liberalism, could not be overlooked; Especially since the communist governments, with the immediate help of their older brothers after conquering a country, were also looking to spread their ideas to neighboring countries. Therefore, America got involved in the “French Indochina” conflicts in the 1950s and practically became the sole actor on the stage with the departure of Paris. However, the result was nothing but 58 thousand American dead, military defeat, and the fall of South Vietnam, Washington’s main ally.
In August 2021, when America was evacuating its agents from Kabul, the media likened the fall of Afghanistan to the dramatic fall of Saigon in 1975. The BBC news site published a report titled “Why is the Taliban’s victory in conquering Kabul compared to the fall of Saigon?” at the same time. The American news agency CNN even went further, writing, “The fall of Saigon was more honorable than the fall of Kabul.” America was at the height of its power within the bipolar system in 1975, but the defeat in Vietnam severely weakened Washington against Moscow, and the Soviets overtook America in the 1960s and 1970s;
Although the Russians repeated America’s mistake in Vietnam and occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s, which ended their empire, if the Russians had not been trapped in the Kabul quagmire, the world would have been different. Washington’s defeats were repeated within the unipolar world, whose freedoms were incomparable to the bipolar world; signing the Iraq withdrawal agreement in 2008, and fleeing from the Taliban in 2021. America has been defeated in war and occupation over the 48 years between 1975 and 2021, regardless of whether the situation was good or bad. This experience has been gained over half a century of American history, and Biden, who is older than this experience, should know that repeating it can change everything. /Educated”
Lawlessness and Boundless Crimes
These days, coinciding with the daily massacre of Gazan civilians, especially children, the world witnessed another page from the thick book of the lawlessness of the usurping Israeli regime. This was manifest in the unruly uproar, threat, and insult by Yair Lapid, the foreign minister of the Zionist regime, towards Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Despite the very weak and ineffective role of the United Nations in managing the Gaza crisis and its failure to curb the war machinery and genocide of the Zionist regime, the officials of this regime even criticized the brief statement of Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in the Security Council meeting. Guterres said, “Hamas’ attacks did not happen without reason,” and this was enough for the Foreign Minister of the Zionist regime to disrespect the United Nations’ position and call for Guterres’ dismissal. This is not the first time that the usurping Zionist regime, instead of being punished and held accountable for its war crimes and genocide in the occupied territories, has shown disrespect and lawlessness to international organizations and institutions. The world also witnessed Israel’s lawlessness during the Qana massacre incident.
On the afternoon of April 18, 1996, the military forces of the Zionist regime heavily targeted a United Nations center in the village of Qana, where a large number of women, children, and defenseless people had taken refuge. The people of Qana had sought refuge in the international forces center near the village due to the fear of bombings, but they were targeted by the brutal bombings of the usurping Zionist fighter jets, resulting in the loss of 106 Lebanese civilian refugees. Following widespread international condemnation, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the then Secretary-General of the United Nations, also reacted to this blatant crime. This stance of Ghali led the United States to oppose his election openly supporting the child-killing Israeli regime, despite the positive vote of 14 members of the Security Council for approving Ghali’s second term as Secretary-General. In the 78 years of United Nations activity, dozens of this organization’s Security Council resolutions condemning Israel have been vetoed by the United States, and resolutions like Security Council 242, which calls for the withdrawal of the Zionist regime’s army to the pre-1967 occupied territories, have practically faced the indifference of the usurping Israel and have never been implemented.
Extensive Support from Three Permanent Members of the United Nations Security Council for Israel’s Policies from 1948 until Now: A Real Manifestation Witnessed Recently by the World with the Visit of the Leaders of the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany to Tel Aviv, is the Main Reason for the Zionist Regime’s Audacity and Lawlessness in Violating the Laws of War and the Four Geneva Conventions. The result of these widespread supports is the primary incentive for Tel Aviv to commit war crimes and genocide in Gaza. The ineffectiveness of the Security Council in restraining the Zionist regime occurs while the United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly condemned the crimes of the Zionist regime in its annual ordinary and emergency meetings. Although the General Assembly’s resolutions condemning Israel have been adopted by an absolute majority of votes, since the Assembly’s resolutions are advisory, the occupying Israeli regime has continued its lawlessness more audaciously than before. The record of the usurping Zionist regime shows that while this regime practically respects neither the United Nations’ structures at any level nor other international institutions and also the widespread protests of global public opinion, it is still supported politically, militarily, financially, and medically by the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany. It seems that the roots of the lawlessness and boundless crimes of the Zionist regime should be sought in these supports. / Dr. Morad Enadi
Washington’s Coverage of Tel Aviv Amir Abdollahian addressing Western countries: Instead of sending bombs and rockets to be used against Gaza, be supporters of peace. America should cease its support for genocide in Gaza.
In continuation of Thursday’s report by “Shargh”, following the diplomatic war of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, centered around the United States and Russia over the Hamas-Israel war and the establishment of a ceasefire at the Gaza barricade, the drafts of Moscow and Washington’s resolutions were vetoed by the respective parties on Thursday evening. In this context, Russia’s second draft resolution was accompanied by the veto of the United States and Britain, and prior to that, the American resolution was vetoed by Russia and China. Consequently, the four draft resolutions presented by the United States, Brazil, and Russia (twice) to manage the Palestinian developments remained unsuccessful. Alongside this political and diplomatic deadlock, field developments, especially in Iraq and Syria, also tell the tale of a worsening situation.
Abdul Rahman Fathollahi: Following the diplomatic war of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, centered around the United States and Russia over the Hamas-Israel war and establishing a ceasefire at the Gaza barricade, Thursday evening witnessed the veto of the drafts of resolutions from Moscow and Washington by the respective parties. Parallel to this political and diplomatic deadlock, field developments, particularly in Iraq and Syria, narrate the further deterioration of situations.
In recent days, following the continuation of the Hamas-Israel war, Tehran and Washington had warned against the spread of tensions across the entire West Asia region; however, the Biden administration, in addition to changing its tone, has practically taken reactions and measures on the operational stage that have brought the region to the brink of entering bilateral confrontations. Amid this, following the failure of the United Nations Security Council to issue a resolution, the United Nations General Assembly also held its ‘extraordinary’ or ’emergency’ meeting on Thursday. In this context, and according to Euronews, the announcement of the holding of an extraordinary meeting of the United Nations General Assembly following a session reviewing the state of the Israel-Gaza war by the United Nations Security Council and the veto of the Security Council’s draft resolution aims to create a ‘humanitarian pause’ in the hostilities to send humanitarian aid to the civilians of Gaza.
There is a lot of doubt regarding Israel’s commitment to a potential resolution of the United Nations General Assembly; especially now that Tel Aviv is enjoying unprecedented political and diplomatic support from the United States and permanent European member countries of the Security Council. However, at the beginning of the session that had been held since Thursday, media sources unveiled that representatives of Arab and Islamic countries left the UN General Assembly meeting in protest of the presence of the ambassador of the Zionist regime. Based on this report, the representatives of the Arab and Islamic countries took this action in protest of Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip. Despite this, Gilad Erdan, the Israeli representative to the United Nations, falsely claimed in a statement that any call for a ceasefire in Gaza is not a call for peace; rather it is an effort to limit and tie Tel Aviv’s hands. Subsequently, representatives from countries such as Jordan and Palestine also expressed their positions at the General Assembly.
Tehran-Washington Confrontation in New York While the war between Israel and Hamas enters its fourth week, subsequently deteriorating the humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, American officials accuse Iran of facilitating attacks on US military bases in the Middle East and speak of Tehran’s role in supporting Hamas. Conversely, Iranian officials also speak of America’s role in worsening the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who entered New York last Thursday to participate in the extraordinary meeting of the United Nations General Assembly about the war between Hamas and Israel, warned of the expansion of conflicts to the entire region due to the Biden administration’s actions immediately upon his arrival in the United States at John F. Kennedy Airport. Speaking to Iranian reporters, he said that “the situation in the West Asia region, considering the massacre and genocide ongoing against the civilians in Gaza, and the full-fledged but blind support that America and a few European countries provide to the Zionist regime, has reached a worrying point for all countries in the region.” Hence, the helmsman of Iran’s foreign policy emphasized that “there is a possibility that control may slip out of everyone’s hands.
Hossein Amirabdollahian, continuing and representing Tehran, spoke at the General Assembly on Thursday, calling for a halt to the genocide of the people of Palestine in Gaza by Israel. He said, “The people of Palestine, as the people of an occupied country, have a legitimate right to defend their rights against the occupiers and use various means, including armed means, in this regard.” the foreign minister considered Operation Al-Aqsa Storm a reaction to the continued aggression against the people of Palestine and the continued occupations; however, Amirabdollahian again referred to the role of Americans in the Hamas-Israel war and consequently the spread of the flames of war to the entire Middle East and said: “West Asia is our region, and we do not agree with any party or country that wants to jeopardize the security of the region.”
Iran’s foreign minister also told Western countries, “Instead of sending bombs and rockets to be used against Gaza, be a supporter of peace. The United States should stop supporting genocide in Gaza. We have always been supporters of peace and stability; but today in New York and the United Nations, I ask American officials who is managing the massacre in Palestine. We do not welcome the expansion of the war in the region; but if the massacre in Gaza continues, they will not survive this fire.” The head of the country’s foreign policy apparatus also emphasized in this speech that Tehran is not seeking to develop and expand the war in the region. After the remarks of Hossein Amir Abdollahian at the General Assembly, the diplomatic movements of the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran continued on the sidelines of the meeting and met with several officials from different countries.
In this regard, Amirabdollahian met with Ayman Safadi, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Jordan, on Friday morning Tehran time, and discussed and negotiated the draft resolution of the United Nations General Assembly to end Israeli crimes. In a significant part of Amirabdollahian’s remarks about the content of the mentioned resolution, he emphasized that this resolution should include three elements: an immediate ceasefire, the necessity of access and continuous sending of humanitarian aid to the oppressed people of Gaza, and confronting forced displacement.” The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Jordan also confirmed the necessity of the existence of the three mentioned elements by Hossein Amirabdollahian in the proposed resolution.
Continuing the negotiations of the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran in New York about Israeli crimes against the people of Palestine, Hossein Amirabdollahian talked with Ms. Retno Marsudi, his Indonesian counterpart, about Brazil’s proposed resolution in the Security Council and the proposed resolution of the General Assembly and again warned that “if the genocide in Gaza continues, the warmongers themselves will not be safe from this fire.
Washington, From Changing Tone to a Serious Entry into the Field In response to Tehran’s warnings, it seems that the Biden administration is also seriously considering changing its tone. John Kirby, the Coordinator of Strategic Communications of the National Security Council at the White House, in a press conference, the details of which have been published on the White House website, when asked what exactly the United States, considering Joe Biden’s statement that if attacks on US military continue from Iran or its proxy forces, there will be a response, is waiting for, he said, “He has said this.”
Kirby also referred to the American reactions in March, responding to whether repeating a warning counts as a response, stating, “We have responded, and we’ve made adjustments that were also decisive reactions.” Although Kirby believes that “Washington will not hesitate to protect its military and facilities under Joe Biden’s statement; however, we will do it whenever and however we want.” Interestingly, John Kirby refrained from answering the question of how considering his claim that Biden has warned Iran, this message has been conveyed to Tehran, stating, “He will not get into this issue.”
The Coordinator of Strategic Communications of the National Security Council at the White House, responding to the persistence of a reporter asking whether this claim message was conveyed through a phone call or a third party and whether it was transmitted after the wounding of American military personnel in the region, admitted that a direct message has been sent to Tehran itself, and we will not say more than this. Kirby’s claim comes after Biden, in a joint press conference with Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of Australia, claimed that his warning to Iranian leaders is that if they continue to attack American forces, they will face an American response and must be prepared for this response.
In addition to Kirby’s claim of sending a direct threat message to Tehran, it seems that American media are still trying to link Iran’s direct role and intervention in Operation Al-Aqsa Storm. In the most recent case, the Wall Street Journal, in a false and fabricated report, claimed that Iran has trained at least 500 members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which of course was accompanied by the reaction of a media close to the National Security Council of the country, denying the Wall Street Journal’s claim based on the training of 500 Hamas forces in Iran.
Nour News, a media outlet close to the country’s Supreme National Security Council, posted on social network X, “The Wall Street Journal’s claim that Iran trained 500 Hamas forces in Iran before attacking Israel is false. Publishing this news aims to sideline the dimensions of the Zionists’ failure in the Al-Aqsa storm. Palestinian resistance is a mature, independent, and popularly supported movement that has proven its capabilities.” Simultaneously, Janet Yellen, the US Treasury Secretary, rejected claims about the expenditure of Iran’s unfrozen funds from South Korea, currently restricted in bank accounts in Qatar.
Yellen, responding to the Republicans’ claims that Iran’s unfrozen funds from South Korean banks, as part of a prisoner exchange agreement between the two countries, were used to finance Hamas’s attack on Israel, pointed out that “Iran hasn’t even touched a cent of its six billion dollars of oil revenues that are in bank accounts in Qatar, and according to an agreement made between the parties, this money is supposed to be spent on humanitarian expenses, including the purchase of medicine, food, and medical equipment.”
In this regard, following the unproven claim of some US officials, particularly Republicans, regarding Iran’s role in the extensive operation “Al-Aqsa storm” by the Palestinian resistance movement against the Israeli regime, and an attempt to link the Tehran-Washington agreement to free Iran’s blocked funds in South Korea to the occurrence of this attack, “Tim Scott,” a senator from South Carolina, along with 22 Republican legislators and one independent lawmaker, have recently drafted and presented a bill to re-block these six billion dollars.
US Operational Phase in the Region
Alongside this political, diplomatic, and media confrontation, it seems that Americans have also entered an operational phase at the ground level. In this context, sources told Al-Mayadeen yesterday (Friday) that American aircraft, in two airstrikes, targeted the farms southeast of the city of Al-Mayadeen in the outskirts of Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria; an aggression that was met with resistance. These sources, referring to the fact that “these two attacks targeted some forces supporting the Syrian army,” noted, “this area had been attacked by the United States earlier this year.” However, Al-Mayadeen’s reporter emphasized, quoting a source, that there were no military warehouses targeted by American aircraft in the outskirts of Deir ez-Zor.
On the other hand, following dozens of resistance attacks on American bases in Syria and Iraq, the Pentagon announced the deployment of 900 soldiers to the Middle East, including air defense system operators. An Iraqi security source also revealed on Thursday that an American transport aircraft landed at the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Anbar. This source told Al-Ma’loumeh news agency in a statement that American warplanes and drones intensified their reconnaissance operations over the Ain al-Asad airbase in the Al-Baghdadi area in the Hit region of western Anbar, just before the American transport aircraft landed in this area.
He also mentioned that “Ain al-Asad base witnessed unusual movements of aircraft that landed with precautionary measures inside the base.” The security source, without mentioning his name, explained, “The US military aircraft flew over the base building for security protection.” This Iraqi security official, referring to “possibly these aircraft are transporting advisors and soldiers to strengthen the base’s protection after drone and missile attacks,” noted, “Ain al-Asad base witnessed unusual movements of transport aircraft a few days after the landing of dozens of aircraft inside the building.” Nevertheless, Reuters reported that the Pentagon spokesperson told reporters that amidst escalating tensions in the occupied territories, American soldiers and their allies have been targeted at least 12 times in Iraq and four times in Syria last week.
In total, 21 American soldiers were injured as a result of these attacks, with the majority suffering head injuries. The Pentagon spokesperson also said that American forces were again targeted early Thursday in Iraq, but this attack was unsuccessful. In an anti-Iranian claim, he also stated, “I don’t intend to provide the media with more detailed information here about specific groups that have taken responsibility for the attack on American personnel, except to say that we know these groups are supported by Iran.”
Officials say that the US measures to protect their forces in the region include increasing US military patrols, limiting access to base facilities, and increasing information gathering, including through drones and other surveillance operations. The latest deployment of American soldiers is related to the country’s plans to deploy the THAAD and Patriot missile systems.
Also, the Pentagon on Thursday, in a statement referring to the failure of a drone attack that day on the US base near Erbil, Iraq, stated that the country’s bases in the region have recently been attacked 16 times. The command center of the US Department of Defense also announced that so far, our forces have been attacked 12 times in Iraq and four times in Syria by resistance forces. The statement, noting that the US has not had any assessment regarding Israel’s compliance with the laws of war, asked Tel Aviv to comply with international laws.
The Pentagon also told Al Jazeera that it is in touch with Israel regarding compliance with the laws of war and will continue its contacts with this regime. The Pentagon further announced that the United States intends to provide two anti-aircraft systems to Tel Aviv to save the lives of civilians and increase Israel’s capabilities. However, a day after the issuance of this statement, the Islamic Resistance of Iraq emphasized in a statement that it has directly targeted the American forces at the Ain al-Assad base with drones. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq continues to target American bases due to Washington’s direct support for Israel, which is committing horrific crimes against the people of Gaza.
Alongside this issue, the Sputnik news agency, quoting local Syrian sources, announced that yesterday morning (Friday), the largest illegal US military base in the “al-Omar” oil field in the northeastern outskirts of Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria, came under missile attack, resulting in a massive fire at this US base. This latest missile attack on the “al-Omar” oil field base, the largest US base in eastern Syria, occurred a few hours after an attack on the US base in the “Conoco” natural gas field in the northern outskirts of Deir ez-Zor, in which, according to sources, some American soldiers were injured. Sources said that immediately after the attack on the al-Omar field base yesterday morning, alarm sirens sounded, and ambulances rushed into this oil field, indicating that some forces of the occupying US army were injured. The mentioned sources said that the exact number of injured US military personnel in this attack has not yet been determined.
The worsening situation in the Middle East following the continuation of the war between Hamas and Israel and Tel Aviv’s crimes in Gaza has even provoked reactions from extra-regional authorities, warning of an impending widespread war. In this regard, Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, referring to the fact that “the ongoing conflict in the Middle East could be the precursor to World War III,” said: “There are many things that show a full-scale and serious conflict might happen, and it might be a war in which the most serious weapons are used.” According to the President of Belarus, “No one knows how things will go, but if the Americans deploy their fighter jets in the Middle East and carry out airstrikes against the countries of the region, especially Iran, Iran will also respond.”