Israel Steps Up Assassinations of Officials; Iran Expands its Attacks to Azerbaijan.
The American-Israeli offensive launched on February 28 against the Iranian mullahs' regime, as well as the subsequent reopening of the South Lebanon front by Hezbollah, on the night of March 1st to March 2, have taken a new turn over the past forty-eight hours.
As aerial raids against Hezbollah positions continue, particularly in the southern suburbs of Beirut and in several villages in the southern region of the country, the Israeli air force is escalating targeted raids aimed at eliminating senior leaders of the pro-Iranian faction and fundamentalist Palestinian organizations. On Wednesday, March 4, and during the day on Thursday, March 5, raids were carried out in Aramoun, Saadiyate, Bchemoun, Choueifat, Saida, Hazmieh, on the road to Beirut airport (where two Hezbollah leaders were assassinated), Zahle and in the Palestinian camp of Baddawi, in North Lebanon, where a senior Hamas official was killed.
In each of these localities, the leaders were killed by a missile strike either at their homes or while they were traveling by car. In parallel, the Arabic-speaking spokesperson for the Israeli army reiterated his call to all residents south of the Litani to evacuate their villages and move north of the river. He issued a similar appeal to the residents of the southern suburbs, asking them to withdraw to Tripoli or certain mountain areas. According to one of the Israeli television channels, the IDF intends to bomb and destroy "dozens of buildings in the southern suburbs."
The Iranian Front
Regarding military operations in Iran, missiles were launched on Thursday morning against Doha (Qatar), Manama (Bahrain), and Iraqi Kurdistan where the headquarters of Iranian Kurdish forces opposed to the mullahs' regime was targeted. It should be noted in this regard that, according to American officials cited by Fox News and the Axios website, Iranian Kurdish opposition forces stationed in Iraq launched a ground offensive towards Iranian territory earlier this week, with the support, these same sources affirm, of American and Israeli Services. The White House, however, denied wanting to provide aid to Iranian Kurdish opponents stationed in Iraq. The Pasdaran, for their part, indicated in this context that they had opened fire against "secessionist elements" who were trying to cross the border with Iraq.
In addition to this tension on the Iran-Iraq border, a serious development occurred on Thursday morning. The Pasdaran launched two missiles towards an airport in Azerbaijan where, moreover, troop concentrations had been reported on the border with Iran, according to some information.
Earlier in the week, it is recalled, the Revolutionary Guards had launched missiles towards Cyprus, against a British base, and towards Turkey where NATO's anti-aircraft defense intercepted the missile. It therefore appears evident that the Pasdaran are increasingly striving to extend the conflict to new countries and new geographical areas, the objective for the Islamic Republic being to increase the internationalization of the conflict in order to escalate it as much as possible in an attempt to stop the American-Israeli offensive.
Faced with the firepower and extent of the American-Israeli offensive, the mullahs' regime, undoubtedly panicked, is opting for a reckless escalation and the extension of the conflict to increasingly broader geographical areas in order to break its confrontation with the United States and Israel. However, such a strategy is turning against Tehran and only increasing its isolation, as illustrated by the international positions recorded in the last twenty-four hours.
The Secretary General of NATO thus declared that the overwhelming majority of Atlantic alliance countries support President Donald Trump's position regarding the Iranian conflict. In the same vein, the European Commission condemned the behavior of the Iranian regime, emphasizing that the Islamic Republic's conduct constitutes a threat to stability in the Middle East and security in Europe. In this context, President Emmanuel Macron indicated on Thursday that he had proposed to Italy and Greece to send troops to Cyprus to strengthen the island's defense capabilities. France, in this regard, decided to authorize American planes access to its military bases in the Middle East. Great Britain had also opened its bases earlier in the week to US aviation.
For his part, the Canadian Prime Minister declared on Thursday that he did not rule out his country's participation in the war against the Iranian regime. As for Australia, it announced the sending of "military potential" to the region.
Finally, it should be noted that the US Senate rejected a resolution presented by Democratic elected officials aimed at limiting President Trump's freedom of action in Iran.