Sources close to Hezbollah are cited by Saudi outlet Al-Arabiya as saying that the Iran-backed Lebanese group has been effectively taken over by officers from Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as Iran prepares for a war with the US and Israel.
The IRGC officers, some of whom recently arrived in Lebanon from Iran, are tasked with rebuilding Hezbollah’s military capabilities and have been personally briefing Hezbollah fighters across Lebanon, according to the sources.
They add that IRGC officers were meeting with members of Hezbollah’s missile unit at a site in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley that was bombed by Israel last night, amid a wave of airstrikes that wounded at least 50 people and killed 12, including a senior Hezbollah officer, targeting what the IDF said were Hamas and Hezbollah command centers in Lebanon.
A wider Israeli military offensive against Hezbollah is only a matter of time, say the Hezbollah-aligned sources.
Meanwhile, anti-Hezbollah Lebanese outlet Nidaa al-Watan cites “prominent political sources” in the country as saying Beirut must declare its neutrality in case of a US-Iran war, and refuse to let Hezbollah drag Lebanon into war with Israel.
The Ynet news site reported this week that Iran was pressuring Hezbollah to fight alongside it in the event of a war with Israel.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem last month said the group would not be neutral in the event of a war, but stopped short of explicitly threatening Israel.
Trump leaning toward attacking Iran, deadline of 10-15 days said ‘not scientific’ — report
US President Donald Trump is leaning toward attacking Iran but will wait a matter of days for a response to his demands from the Iranians, Channel 12 reports.
The report says the US president is acceding to a request from his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to give Iran another day or two to offer a response. The US and Iran are in the midst of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program, with the US demanding that the Islamic Republic stop all nuclear enrichment. Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran since its deadly crackdown on anti-regime protests last month, and has amassed US forces in the region.
The network quotes an unnamed US official as saying the deadline Trump previously gave Iran for a response, of 10 to 15 days, is “not scientific.”
The network goes on to repeat an Axios report from late yesterday saying that, despite US demands of “zero enrichment” in Iran, Trump might be open to allowing “token” enrichment, leaving a narrow pathway for a deal.
“We will see what he gives us in writing. Based on that, we will see how serious they are. The ball is in their court,” a US official told Axios.
The Axios report also said Trump is weighing a plan to kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son and potential heir.
Trump is keeping his options open. He could decide on an attack at any moment,” a senior Trump adviser told Axios.
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