A threat from the Iranian revolutionary guards as things don't go well for the IDF

Oct 24, 2024

IRGC chief moots ground offensive against Israel

The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Hossein Salami ramped up his rhetoric against Israel on Thursday, hinting at the possibility of a ground operation just as Israel appears poised to launch a strike on Iran.

"We give the Zionist regime this message: look at the operations of Fath al-Mobin and Beit al-Moqaddas and see if it can stand against another Fath al-Mobin," Salami said, referencing grueling Iranian infantry campaigns from the nearly decade-long Iran-Iraq War which ended in 1988.

"If a ground operation begins, can it escape the scale of our Beit al-Moqaddas operation in 1982?" he added. The offensives were critical in forcing Iraqi forces out of southern Iran.

Iran launched two aerial bombardments against Israel this year, once in April and the next in October, in the first direct confrontation with its archenemy in the Islamic Republic's near 50-year history.

It has never fought Israel with ground troops.

Salami also dismissed the US-provided THAAD missile defense system, which has been deployed in Israel in anticipation of further escalation. "Do not rely on the THAAD missiles. They are limited, and you are depending on limited power," he said.

The US deployed 100 troops to the region this month, with President Joe Biden reaffirming his commitment to supporting Israel.

Israel, preparing for possible further conflict, has requested an additional THAAD system from the US, according to Israel's Channel 12. THAAD, designed to work alongside the Patriot system, can intercept threats at ranges of 93-124 miles.

Salami's remarks come as Israel prepares a retaliatory response to Iran's attack with 181 ballistic missiles earlier this month.

The Oct. 1 barrage was retaliation for Israel's assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last month and likely killing in July of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Although most missiles were intercepted, a few hit military and civilian targets, causing minor damage.

After Iran’s first attack in April, Israel responded with air strikes on an air defense site in central Iran. Following the latest missile volley, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran it had made a "big mistake" and promised a counterstrike.

The Biden administration later revealed that it had advised Israel not to target Iran's nuclear facilities, but tensions remain at boiling point as both sides prepare for further escalation.

Also on Press TV

Confirmation from zionist sources

'Unable to advance': Hezbollah details staggering Israeli losses in three weeks of war

The Israeli army has incurred about 700 casualties since beginning ground infiltrations into Lebanon early this month

Hezbollah fighters have killed over 70 Israeli army soldiers and officers in southern Lebanon and have injured hundreds, the resistance group’s Operations Room said in a statement on 23 October.

“The enemy's losses, according to what the Islamic Resistance fighters monitored, amounted to more than 70 dead and more than 600 wounded officers and soldiers of the Israeli enemy army,” the statement said.

It adds that 28 Merkava tanks, four military bulldozers, an armed vehicle, and an armored troop carrier were destroyed by the Lebanese resistance.

The toll “does not include the Israeli enemy's losses in military bases, sites and barracks in the north and depth of occupied Palestine.”

The statement confirms that Israeli forces have not been able to establish control over or occupy any villages and that the troops have only been able to advance short distances into southern Lebanese villages, given the intensity of the resistance’s operations.

It detailed several recent operations on the different axes in which the Israeli army is trying to advance into numerous villages.

“The enemy forces attempted to infiltrate towards the town of Taybeh … but our fighters confronted them with machine guns and rockets, resulting in a large number of dead and wounded among the infiltrating force. When an enemy support force attempted to advance to retrieve the casualties, our fighters confronted them, inflicting more losses on them and forcing them to retreat,” Hezbollah said.

Fierce clashes at close range have inflicted heavy losses on Israeli forces, as well as longer-range rocket attacks that target troops as they attempt to advance.

In one incident in which Hezbollah’s fighters ambushed troops in a municipality building in one of the villages, Israeli army evacuation operations took hours due to the resistance repeatedly attacking the rescue forces.

Hezbollah confirmed that its rocket, missile, and drone operations are “gradually increasing day after” on the border and “all the way to the depths of occupied Palestine.”

It also confirmed that precision missiles have recently been used for the first time.

The Israeli army has not released an updated figure of the number of soldiers who have been killed in south Lebanon ground operations. Strict military censorship is also regularly imposed on Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks deep in Israel.

A Hezbollah drone exploded into the window of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Caesarea home on 19 October. Less than a week earlier, at least four Golani Brigade soldiers were killed and dozens wounded when a Hezbollah drone attack hit their military base south of Haifa.