Tehran- The assassination of nuclear scientists and military leaders is no longer new to Iranian public opinion, but the assassination of General Reza Mousavi, responsible for the support unit of what is known as the axis of resistance in Syria, last Monday, was “the third sting from a single hole that Tehran has been drinking its poisons since October 7.” Last October,” as the Iranians describe it.
Yesterday, Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant hinted that Tel Aviv carried out operations in several countries coinciding with the war on the Gaza Strip, but he did not clarify the nature of those measures and where they took place specifically.
In a speech he delivered at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Knesset (Parliament), Gallant said, “We are in a multi-front war and are under attack from 7 fronts: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran. We have already responded and taken action on 6 of them.” .
The resistance project continues with doubled force
From Hormuzali to Bab al-Mandab and from Basra to Bint Jbeil
Assassinations will not deter us, but rather increase our adherence to the project
Whoever dreams of our exit from Syria will die in grief
We will not leave it except to Palestine
This project is ongoing, even if it has reached what it has reached
The Levant, from which we ascend to heaven
And you are buried there– Muhammad Sadiq Al-Husaini (@sadeghalhusaini) December 26, 2023
Public anger
Although General Mousavi was not a famous figure inside Iran due to his membership in the Quds Force – the unit entrusted with foreign operations in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and his residence for more than two decades in Lebanon and Syria – the news of his assassination was shocking to a very large segment of the Iranian people.
Following reports that described Mousavi as the second highest-ranking military man to be killed outside the country after General Qassem Soleimani – who was killed in an American raid near Baghdad International Airport in early 2020 – a large crowd of Iranians gathered at night in front of the gate of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, demanding “an immediate and direct response against the entity.” The Zionist as the main accused behind the assassination,” they said.
Iranian popular anger in the street and in the Persian media puts the authorities in an awkward position regarding revenge for General Mousavi, as Tehran officials exaggerated their threats and vowed to “make the Zionist entity pay the price for the crime of assassination.”
These new threats come one month after the Revolutionary Guard announced the killing of two of its members who were working as military advisors in Syria as a result of Israeli air attacks. At that time, Tehran warned “against the consequences of the Zionist entity repeating a new foolishness by targeting its members in Syria” and vowed that the response would be harsh.
Tel Aviv Tribune Net learned from a source close to General Radhi Mousavi – who requested anonymity – that the Iranian authorities “have taken a decision to take revenge, and will work to implement it soon, in addition to tightening the belt of fire on Israel more and more and appointing another person to succeed Mousavi in Syria that will make Tel Aviv regret.” For what he committed against his predecessor.”
While Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian wrote on the “X” platform that “Tel Aviv must wait for a difficult countdown” after the killing of Mousavi, the Iranian Ministry of Defense announced that “the response to this crime will be strict and effective at the appropriate time and place and in the manner we deem appropriate.” “, adding that its response will not provide room for any Israeli exploitation.
🚨#Iran It says that Israel targeted the leader of the Iranian advisors in Syria #Radi_al At this time, Mousavi is attempting to expand the scope of the war in the region and impose the Israeli option on Iran, but Tehran confirmed its refusal to set its watch to Israeli time, but it vowed a response that exceeds Israel’s capabilities.
– Muhammad Saleh Sedghian (@msedghian) December 25, 2023
A failed attempt
The Iranian Ministry of Defense’s redress falls within the context of estimates that view the recent assassination as an Israeli attempt to lure Tehran into the ongoing battle in Gaza and to exploit the American and Western presence in the region to push it into a confrontation with the Islamic Republic.
In this context, the former Iranian ambassador to Lebanon and Jordan, Ahmed Dastmaljian, believes that Tel Aviv has failed to lure Tehran into the battle in addition to the defeats it is suffering in Gaza, stressing that his country is too smart to set its clock to “Zionist time” and that it will not allow the Israeli right-wing government to pass… Its projects aimed at expanding the scope of the battle.
Speaking to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, Dastmaljian considered the assassination of General Mousavi an indication of the intensity of the painful strikes that Israel has been receiving for about 3 months on more than one front, adding that Tel Aviv wanted to take revenge on Tehran as its main enemy who cornered it in a dead end, as he described it, and that the occupation He will not be able to reduce Tehran’s support for the axis of resistance.
The same spokesman concluded that his country “possesses many tools to take revenge on the Israeli enemy, as it has done so far and has already responded to Israeli assassinations on more than one front, directly or indirectly, and this is what Tel Aviv knows best and has experienced its bitterness several times.”
On the other hand, a group of Iranians are calling for the necessity of a direct response to Tel Aviv, which assassinated several Iranian figures, and are threatening to adopt these operations. Iranian circles blame the authorities for their inability to put an end to the Israeli attacks on their interests in Syria.
A call for revenge
Some Iranian tweeters on social media platforms wondered about the fate of the air defenses that Tehran said – last year – that it would transfer to Syria, while others blamed Iran for not constantly changing its headquarters in the Zainabiya region and the Damascus countryside because it had become exposed to the Israeli side.
Other Iranian tweeters also accused some foreign countries – which have good relations with the Syrian regime – of leaking reports and security data to Israel about Iranian targets in Syria.
For his part, political researcher Hassan Beheshtipour believes that immediate and direct revenge for the assassination of General Mousavi has become an urgent necessity to prevent the recurrence of such events, stressing that the recent incident is no less important than Israel’s assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in late 2020 near Tehran.
In an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, Beheshtipour ruled out expanding the ongoing war on Gaza and drawing his country into it, calling on Tehran to intensify its efforts to address the security breach and uncover spies who have been working for Israel in Syria for years.
He said that the absolute American support for Israel makes it not afraid of the repercussions of its adventures, considering that the categorical and harsh response against it will prevent it from thinking about carrying out assassinations against Iranian figures, warning that Tel Aviv will continue implementing the policy of assassinations as long as it is not met with a strong and categorical response.
Whether Tehran hastened its revenge for General Mousavi or waited for the appropriate time and place, the obituary statements of the Islamic resistance movements, which these days are waging a war with Israel on several fronts, leave no doubt that they will escalate their operations against Tel Aviv in retaliation for their ally, Tehran.
