The Iranian government has warned Israel that if it hits Iran again, it will strike Israel more ferociously than the last time, as we read in the Washington Post:
Iran has placed its forces on “high alert” as it watches the U.S. military buildup in the region, said a senior Iranian official who briefed reporters Friday.
“This military buildup — we hope that it is not something for real confrontation — but we are ready for a worst-case scenario,” the official said.
The official also warned that in the event of a U.S. attack, Iranian retaliation would be far more devastating than it was during the 12-day war with Israel in the summer, a conflict that he said Iran did not consider to be “existential.” Now, he said, Iran considers “the nature of the threat so different.”
“Iran tried to be very restrained, predictable and measured in its responses to both Israelis and Americans,” the official said. “This time, we take any attack — limited, unlimited, surgical, kinetic … whatever they call it — as an all-out war against us. And we will respond in the hardest way possible.”
Israel is will get hit hard… again.
This is happening amidst a major US naval deployment to the Middle East:
A U.S. aircraft carrier and several additional warships reached the Middle East on Monday, defense officials said, as President Donald Trump and his advisers weigh potential military strikes on Iran following the recent killing of thousands of Iranian civilians in protests.
The Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of operations, said a U.S. official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations. Central Command later acknowledged the move on social media, saying the warship was in the Indian Ocean and “currently deployed to the Middle East to promote regional security and stability.”
The vessel and three escorting destroyers were still too far away to easily strike Iran, but were expected to pull closer in coming days — moving to either the Gulf of Oman or the North Arabian Sea.
The move came as Trump said in an interview with Axios that the situation with Iran is “in flux.” While military firepower continues to arrive in the region, he said he thinks Tehran wants to make a deal. The Lincoln’s arrival had been anticipated for days, after Trump administration officials this month redirected the carrier and several other warships escorting it from the South China Sea.
Trump nearly approved strikes against Iran earlier this month, only to cool to the idea on Jan. 14, as some of his advisers and Middle East partners warned that it could be difficult to manage subsequent counterstrikes from Iran and other violence without more combat power in the region.
One current and one former U.S. official said that additional military assets also are moving into the region. The current official said they won’t all be there for at least another week, providing Trump with a full range of options. The former official said that deliberations could go on even longer, and it’s not clear yet if any strikes will occur.
Asked Monday if the administration has had any recent contacts with Iran, another U.S. official said, “We are open for business. … If they want to contact us, and they know what the terms are, then we’re going to have the conversation.”
“I think they know the terms,” said that official. The administration has previously stated that Iran must end all uranium enrichment, curtail its missile program and stop support for proxy militias in the region.
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