Report: Iran Threatens Major Response if Israel Moves on Ali Taher Ridge

Iran sent the United States a warning that it would respond with force if Israel launches a broad operation on the Ali Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah operatives are trapped and, according to sources who spoke with the Reuters news agency, Iranian military personnel are also present. The message was delivered to Washington in August through Oman, which served as a mediator between the sides, Reuters reported today (Thursday).

According to the report, Tehran said in its message that a full Israeli attack on the ridge would be met with a large-scale Iranian attack. Two regional sources briefed by Tehran said that alongside Hezbollah personnel, more than a dozen members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are inside the ridge, including at least two senior officers. Israeli security officials, however, said there are no Iranians in the ridge area.

The ridge, which overlooks southeastern Lebanon, has become one of the region's main centers of fighting. Hezbollah built an underground command center and weapons depots inside it, and after the IDF took control of the ridge, dozens of operatives were trapped there. The terrorist organization publicly declared that it controls the hill and would confront any Israeli attempt to advance there. Senior officials in the organization also referred to the existence of a "facility" at the site.

Reuters noted that the IDF captured extensive territory south of Ali Taher and, in public statements, described the ridge as one of its "main operational focal points."

Hezbollah's media office said that "Iran views any Israeli ground move in southern Lebanon, and especially territorial expansion, as a serious violation of the Islamabad Agreement." Hezbollah was referring to the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran signed in June, which included a ceasefire in Lebanon.

Despite the ceasefire declaration in June, the IDF says Hezbollah continues to operate near the ridge. Over the past week, the organization launched explosive drones at IDF soldiers in the area at least twice. An IDF official, who spoke anonymously to Reuters in June, said Hezbollah operatives remained trapped underground without food or water.

According to another source who spoke with the news agency, the IDF is trying to force Hezbollah and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel out of the compound through a siege, while intercepting attempts to send them food and water by drone.

A Lebanese source briefed by Hezbollah claimed that the organization's personnel can still reach their positions through the northern side of the ridge. At the same time, that source and a senior official in Lebanon's security apparatus assessed that despite Iran's warning, the possibility of an Israeli operation to capture the ridge remains on the table and could materialize in the coming weeks.