Israeli security official warns: Iran accelerating preparations out of fear of Israeli strike

An Israeli security official warned in an interview on Kan News, Reshet Bet, that Iran is making efforts to restore its damaged standing and is accelerating its pace of weapons procurement out of concern about a possible Israeli attack. The full remarks were published this morning (Sunday) on the program “This Morning.”

According to the official, Iran is working to rebuild the capabilities of the Houthis in Yemen and is smuggling weapons into the West Bank to facilitate attacks in Israel. He warned that Iran is also re-arming Hezbollah in Lebanon and terrorist organizations operating in Syria in preparation for a possible confrontation with Israel.

Regarding the situation in Lebanon, the security official said that Iran understands that Israel will need to act after Dec. 31, the target date by which Hezbollah is supposed to disarm. He concluded by saying that Iran is in an arms race that is troubling security officials.

The Yemeni anti-Houthi news site Defense Line reported about two weeks ago on Iran’s steps to restore its influence in Sana’a. According to the report, Tehran has decided to return Abd al-Reza Shahlai—the senior Quds Force commander responsible for the Yemeni arena—to Yemen, as part of an attempt to fill the strategic vacuum created following the killings of Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah and Qassem Soleimani, and to send experts from the Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah as “jihad assistants” for the Houthi rebels.

In addition, Iran’s actions against Israel extend beyond the Middle East. Recently, the Mossad announced that, in cooperation with European intelligence services, it succeeded in foiling a series of terrorist infrastructures worldwide that were advancing attacks against Israelis and Jews, some of them operating under Iranian sponsorship. According to Israeli officials, dozens of cells are attempting to carry out attacks in Europe, Africa, and other locations.