Benny Sabati, an Iran researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, said in a recent interview with Maariv that an Iranian military response to Israeli attacks on Iran was warranted.
“If two or three weeks after our attack we were hearing public responses like ‘nothing happened, minimal damage,’ now it seems that the Iranians are assessing the damage and realizing that there really was something significant,” Sabati said.
“The level of threats that Israel has been receiving in recent days is increasing,” he explained. “Initially, it started with low-ranking members of parliament, but now it has reached the generals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The threat level is increasing very quickly. In Iran, they are saying that they will prepare a response that Israel will not be able to resist , that Israel will be defeated. The discourse of destruction is returning, and they talk as if the state is on the brink of collapse.”
“In terms of a response,” Sabati said, “there is no doubt that there will be a response. There is no way the Iranians will allow themselves not to respond.
Scenes in Iran following a series of Israeli retaliation attacks on October 26. (credit: SCREENSHOT ACCORDING TO 27A OF COPYRIGHT ACT)
Iran’s new strategy
“Since yesterday afternoon, as Europe is also supporting Israel and the United States, of course, there is something new that I did not expect and that came out of nowhere,” Sabati continued. The Supreme Leader’s advisor came out and said – because of Israel’s actions, we could change our nuclear policy, which means moving towards nuclear weapons, which is not technically feasible in days and is not realistic.
“He also said something we haven’t heard in a long time: We’ve held back from extending missile range to Europe, and now we could do it.
“Iran is trying to create a new dynamic where others could come to contain Israel. It’s like taking someone hostage: They are threatening Europe so that Europe will put pressure on us.”
