DUBAI, November 15. /TASS/. Tehran may carry out a strike on Israel in response to the attack in October before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, scheduled for January 20, 2025, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida said, citing a source in Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
According to the source, a number of high-ranking Iranian politicians who are members of the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme National Security Council and the Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy of the Iranian parliament, as well as the command of the Armed Forces are in favor of such a strike before Trump comes to power. From their point of view, such a move would "strengthen Tehran's position in negotiations" with Trump's team. The newspaper's source also noted that it was the administration of the incumbent US President, Joe Biden, that allowed Israel to launch attacks on Iranian territory. Therefore "it should settle scores with it before the new administration takes over."
However, according to the source, the Iranian government, led by President Massoud Pezeshkian, insists on a postponement, not until the inauguration, though, but until a meeting with representatives of Trump's team, which, according to Al-Jarida, might take place in Istanbul. In addition, the government ministers suggest giving Biden "one last chance to bring about a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon." In the event of such an agreement, the newspaper's source believes, Iran will be forced to "adjust its plans" regarding Israel in such a way as to "not negatively affect [the cease-fire] arrangements."
On October 1, Iran carried out a large-scale missile attack on Israel in response to the assassinations of key figures in the leadership of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas, the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, elite units of the Iranian Armed Forces). Israel vowed to retaliate.
On October 26, the Israeli army reported strikes on military installations inside Iran in response to what it described as "numerous continuous attacks." The Iranian Air Defense Forces said in a statement that military facilities in Ilam, Tehran and Khuzestan provinces were attacked, but the damage was insignificant and the main strike was successfully repelled. The Israeli attack killed at least four Iranian soldiers and one civilian.
On November 14, IRGC commander Lieutenant-General Hossein Salami threatened Israel with prompt retaliation. Lieutenant-General Abdolrahim Mousavi, the commander-in-chief of the Iranian army, promised Tehran's crushing response.