Iranian UN mission threatens Israel with “devastating war”

Latest developments

Iran will unleash its terrorist proxies in the Middle East in a “devastating war” against Israel if the burgeoning conflict in Lebanon escalates into a full-scale war, the Iranian mission to the United Nations threatened in a post on X on June 28. Dismissed as “psychological warfare” by the “Zionist regime,” the post reiterated Israeli warnings that it would expand its operations against Hezbollah, Iran’s Lebanese proxy, if there is no diplomatic solution to the terror organization’s ongoing rocket, drone and munitions attacks that have displaced over 60,000 residents of northern Israel. “All options, including the full participation of all resistance fronts, are on the table,” the post stressed.

Tehran uses this terminology for subnational Shiite and other terrorist militias that the Islamic Republic supports throughout the Middle East. These include groups in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, all of which have attacked Israel in support of the Hamas terrorists in Gaza who started the current war with their massacre in Israel on October 7.

Expert analysis

“The words ‘all options are on the table’ are usually used by Israel and the Western powers when talking about a possible war as a last resort to deny the Iranian regime nuclear weapons. Now the mullahs have adopted those words. At the very least, this is a timely reminder of how much more chaotic the region would be if Iran’s proxies were released under an Iranian nuclear umbrella.” — Mark DubowitzCEO of FDD

“It is high time that experts and politicians rethink their assumptions about the role of Iran’s proxies in the region. These forces are not just passively serving as an extended deterrent for the Islamic Republic. They are also actively carrying out the regime’s ideological mission through a cycle of violence directed against Israel and American interests to create a new regional order. The fact that the regime and its allies are using the language of an axis here and appear to have found military solutions in places where the West believes there never were any is also telling.” — Behnam Ben TalebluSenior Fellow of the FDD

Latest developments

“War between Israel and Hezbollah draws closer, US says,” FDD Flash Brief

“Hezbollah’s rockets and growing military power are a real threat,” by Behnam Ben Taleblu

“Iran-backed Iraqi militia threatens to attack US interests if Israel attacks Lebanon,” by Bill Roggio and Janatan Sayeh

“In Lebanon, casualties mount for Syrian branch of Islamic Jihad,” by Joe Truzman