U.S. deploys guided-missile submarine to Middle East
JERUSALEM – A situation which 24 hours or so before seemed somewhat ambiguous at best, appeared to crystallize Monday as evidence suggests Iranian hardliners have won the day and decided to to strike Israel for eliminating Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Indeed, reports surfaced that Hezbollah has largely emptied Beirut’s Dahiyeh neighborhood – the one in which its Chief of Staff Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli missile strike about 12 hours before the Haniyeh hit – of its entire headquarters – including computers and other equipment for fear of Israeli reprisals in the event of an attack on the Jewish state.
It is unclear if this includes the organization’s leader – Hassan Nasrallah – who is thought to move his location daily from safe house to safe house, and whom many suspect is sequestered somewhere underground – and has been for more than a decade – fearful of any Israeli attempts to assassinate him.
On Sunday, it appeared Iran was potentially experiencing pangs of doubt about its proposed massive retaliation to Haniyeh’s killing on its soil – and the attendant humiliation for both the location and timing. There were also doubts about whether Iran would risk a regional war to avenge the blood of a Palestinian, albeit one who was supposed to be an honored guest at its new president’s investiture.
However, overnight Sunday positions appeared to change and a hardening of Iran’s stance led Israel and the United States’ respective defense establishments beginning to warn Tehran’s response could be in a matter of a few days, if not an even shorter timeframe.