Iran ‘plans direct attack on Israel in days’: intelligence agencies

Iran is planning a direct strike on Israel this week as Jerusalem warns the US Tehran is set for a large scale attack and the US orders a guided missile sub to the Middle East.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is reported to have ordered a strike on Israel. Picture: AFP.

Iran is reportedly preparing a direct strike on Israel this week, possibly before a critical ceasefire summit between Israel and Hamas, scheduled for August 15.

The Axios website reports the intelligence community believes a strike is imminent, despite international pressure on Tehran to delay any retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at least until after the talks.

🚨🚨The updated assessment of the Israeli intelligence community is that Iran has decided to attack Israel directly in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh & may do within days, even before the August 15 hostage deal talks, per 2 sources

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) August 11, 2024

On Sunday local time, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin Iranian military preparations suggest Tehran is getting ready for a large-scle attack, Axios reports.

Mr Austin has on Monday (AEST) ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and is telling the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to expedite its arrival in the area, US Central Command has announced. The carrier has F-35 fighter jets aboard, along with the F/A-18 fighter aircraft that are also on carriers.

Secretary of Defense Austin has ordered the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN Carrier Strike Group, equipped with F-35C fighters, to accelerate its transit to the Central Command area of responsibility, adding to the capabilities already provided by the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT Carrier Strike…

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) August 12, 2024

It comes amid tension between Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp; Mr Pezeshkian wants to avoid a major attack and has suggested attacking Israel’s “secret” spy bases in Azerbaijan or Kurdistan instead, while the IRGC are determined to launch a bigger strike on Israel than on April 13.

On Friday, Mr Pezeshkian appealed to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to hold off on an attack, but on Sunday the IRGC claimed the Supreme Leader had ordered a direct strike on Israel.

Israel’s Walla news website reported the situation “remains fluid,” with the internal debate in Iran ongoing, which means that Iranian decision-making could still change.

The new intelligence assessment is a departure from reports in recent days that suggested Hezbollah would attack Israel sooner and harder than Iran, aiming to target a senior Israeli official in retaliation for the assassination of commander Fuad Shukr last week.

Israel’s Channel 13 reported on Friday that Ayatollah Khamenei was considering a

less severe response to Israel’s assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran partly because he believed the well-armed Hezbollah would hit Israel hard.

It came as Mr Pezeshkian presented his cabinet to parliament, notably including a woman and a Western-friendly diplomat as the country’s foreign minister.

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf announced the names of the 19-member cabinet presented by the president during an assembly session broadcast live on state television.

For the post of foreign minister, Mr Pezeshkian named Abbas Araghchi, a 61-year-old career diplomat who has led nuclear negotiations since 2013.

Known for his openness to the West, he played a pivotal role in the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that was torpedoed three years later by the United States’ decision to withdraw from it.

Mr Pezeshkian has also nominated one woman, Farzaneh Sadegh, who would become only the second Iranian woman to hold a ministerial post since the Islamic republic was established in 1979.

The 48-year-old is set to head the ministry of roads and urban development. The reformist president has named as his future interior minister General Eskandar Momeni, a 60-year-old police commander and former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

General Aziz Nasirzadeh, a former commander of the Iranian Air Force and deputy chief of staff of the armed forces since 2021, is set to take the helm of the defence ministry.

With AFP