(RightWing.org) – Concerns continue to mount over the possibility that the ongoing Israel-Hamas War could expand into a more significant military conflict throughout the Middle East. Iran’s leadership has supported the Sunni Islamist group’s efforts to defeat Israeli forces, and an adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei vowed to support Hamas “until the liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem.” The potential of an all-out war throughout the region recently increased after Iranian officials vowed retribution for the death of one of its senior commanders, reportedly at the hands of members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
On Christmas day, Iranian officials accused Israel of killing Brig. Gen. Sayyed Razi Mousavi, a senior-ranking adviser to the country’s infamous Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). They claimed the general died during an Israeli missile attack on a farm outside Damascus, Syria.
The Fars News Agency, a semi-official Iranian media company, provided details from a press conference conducted by Defense Ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Reza Talaei-Nik on December 26. He vowed to avenge Mousavi’s slaying and warned the “Israeli regime” to prepare for Tehran’s “retribution [for] its recent terrorist attack,” adding that Iranian military officials were planning the right time to “torture Zionists and their [supporters] to death.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi issued a statement later that day echoing the Defense Ministry’s vow of vengeance. He called the assassination of the “IRGC military advisor […] yet another sign of the Zionist regime’s” mounting “desperation.”
Officials in Jerusalem declined to comment on the allegation, its customary practice when dealing with Iranian claims. However, on December 26, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued a statement indirectly addressing the situation. He pointed out that the IDF was facing an attack on multiple fronts from “seven theaters,” including troops from Gaza, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and Yemen. He also said Israeli forces had already “taken action in six of those theaters.”
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