Iran's Raisi: We'll Destroy Tel Aviv, Haifa for 'Slightest Mistake' by Israel
JERUSALEM, Israel – Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi claimed Tuesday that if Israel provokes the Tehran government, even slightly, it "will be accompanied by the destruction of Haifa and Tel Aviv."
Raisi made his threats at the country's National Army Day, which occurred this year on Israel's Holocaust Heroes and Martyrs Remembrance day, and was reported by Tehran's Mehrs news agency.
One day earlier, Israel's Shin Bet security agency announced that the Quds Force of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon have been attempting to recruit Palestinians in the West Bank (biblical Judea and Samaria) to carry out terrorist attacks.
Middle East Analyst Seth Frantzman, writing in The Jersualem Post Wednesday, explained that Iran's rhetorical belligerence may be in conjunction with a plan to shift its resources following the recent restoration of relations with Saudi Arabia, where Tehran had been aiding the Houthi rebels in Yemen against the Saudis.
Frantzman wrote, "Part of the Iranian plan involves moving resources from Yemen, where it backed the Houthis, to back pro-Iran elements in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Toward that end, it encouraged talks between Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Baghdad, as well as encouraging Hamas to connect with units in Lebanon during a recent flare-up."
Raisi also warned the U.S in Tuesday's speech, saying, "Extra-regional forces, including American forces, should leave the region as soon as possible because they threaten the security of the region and have not and will not provide security for the nations of that region."
Israel's KAN News reported that in an unusual convening of Israel's Security Cabinet meeting on Holocaust Remembrance Day, the issue of threats against Israel from Lebanon was discussed.
As Tehran ratcheted up the tension with Israel, Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has spent more than two full days as a guest of Israel's Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, meeting with the top leaders of Israel's government, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.
Pahlavi also honored Israel's Holocaust victims at Monday's Yad Vashem ceremony, visited the Dee family who lost three family members in an April terrorist attack, and prayed at the Western Wall, all powerful symbols from the highest level Iranian ever to visit Israel.
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