Iran threatens revenge on Israel prompting fears of all-out war in Middle East

Fears are growing that Iran is about to launch a direct attack on Israel which would spark a devastating regional conflict

Hello and welcome to Hostile World with Chris Hughes, a weekly newsletter about the world of defence and geopolitics. You can subscribe here and follow me on Twitter @defencechris. Thank you!

Pro-Iranian Hezbollah militants beat on their chests as they mourn senior commander Ali Ahmad Hussein, who was killed in an overnight Israeli air raid in south Lebanon (Credit: Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)

Worrying signs coming from Iran indicate that by the time you read this it may already have launched revenge strikes against Israel – and the Middle East will be closer to all-out war.

This is a reaction to the airstrike last week which killed perhaps 11 of Tehran’s senior military men including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a key figure in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

He had for years played a key role in Tehran’s relations with Lebanese Hezbollah and had even directed attacks against their Israeli neighbour.

This week Iran has directly threatened revenge on Israel, which had already begun withdrawing troops from southern Gaza, a very odd move given its determination to attack Rafah.

On Tuesday flights were being cancelled, all week there was Israeli troop movement north towards the Lebanon border and reports from Washington that an attack is “imminent.”

It is possible Tehran may judge now is the time to launch limited strikes directly at Israeli targets in the Middle East and many embassies and other buildings have been evacuated.