Israel and the United States are convinced that Iran is preparing to retaliate Israeli strike on Iranian consulate in Syria, US officials say.
Israel struck an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, on Monday and killed a “handful” of leaders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the Pentagon.
The Iranians are now preparing a retaliatory attack with a swarm of drones and Shaheed cruise missiles, officials believe. The timing and target are unknown, but a proportional response to the Damascus attack would be to strike an Israeli diplomatic facility.
There are a number of dates associated with the end of Ramadan that would be symbolic from the Iranian perspective. For example, April 5 is known as Al-Quds Day, a day to express support for the Palestinian people. April 6 is considered “the night of power,” a night when acts increase 1,000-fold. However, intelligence services believe that reprisals are more likely to occur next week.
Another important unknown concerns where the drones and missiles would be launched – from Iraq or Syria, which could prompt a slight demand for denial from Tehran – or from Iranian territory.
A public funeral was held Friday in Tehran for the seven IRGC members killed in the suspected Israeli strike in Damascus, including two generals, CBS News’ Seyed Bathaei reported.
At the funeral, IRGC commander-in-chief General Hossein Salami warned that Israel “cannot escape the consequences” of the assassination of Iranian military officers, but he gave no further indication on the how and when Iran might retaliate, Bathaei said.
Seeking to prevent Iranian retaliation on U.S.-linked facilities, Biden administration officials stressed that the United States was not informed in advance of the strike.
National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said President Biden, during his phone call Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, discussed Iranian threats against Israel.
“There have been discussions between the two leaders about the very viable and very public threat that Iran poses to Israel’s security in recent days, and the president has made it very clear – very clear – to the prime minister Netanyahu that he could count on American support to help them in their self-defense against threats posed directly and publicly by Iran,” Kirby told reporters Friday.
The Israelis have already publicly announced that they will retaliate. An Iranian attack on an Israeli installation would therefore be another step towards a regional war.
David Martin and Eleanor Watson contributed reporting.
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