TEL AVIV — “The battle begins.” That was the pronouncement on X from Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday evening as the Islamic Republic sent two barrages of ballistic missiles at Israel. No injuries were reported.
The battle has been joined since early Friday morning, when Israel launched an all-out assault on Iran’s high command, its nuclear facilities, and its military assets. Also on Monday the Israeli Air Force executed a wave of airstrikes at Tehran targeting centrifuge production and weapons production sites.
The Ayatollah added on X that “We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist regime” and that Iran will “show the Zionists no mercy.” The social media post also alluded to the infamous Battle of Khaybar, where forces loyal to the Prophet Muhammed defeated Jewish tribes in the year 628 of the common era. The cry “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews! The army of Muhammad will return!” has become a mantra of foes of the Jewish state.
Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday reached back for his own reference from antiquity, telling the Iran International news service that “Cyrus freed the Jews, now it’s your turn to be free.” It was Cyrus II of the sixth century before the common era, known as Cyrus the Great, who freed the Jews from their Babylonian captivity and returned them to Israel to build their Temple. President Truman is reported to have said “I am Cyrus” when he decided to back the nascent Jewish state.
Ayatollah Khamenei’s fate is increasingly tied to the question of Israel — and America’s — goals for the war. His inner circle of advisers has been decimated, with the regime’s latest wartime chief of staff killed earlier this week. The Supreme Leader, Iran International reports, is holed up in a subterranean bunker at Lavizan, in northeastern Tehran. His family is by his side.
Mr. Netanyahu has made no secret that assassinating the ayatollah is an option. He told ABC News’ Jon Karl earlier this week that killing Ayatollah Khamenei is “not going to escalate the conflict, it’s going to end the conflict.” When Mr. Karl pushed Mr. Netanyahu on whether he would give the order to kill his arch-foe, the premier of the Jewish state said only “We’re doing what we need to do.”
Israeli press reports indicate that there have been operational windows during this first week of war where such an assassination was feasible, but that President Trump has stayed the Jewish state’s hand. On Tuesday the 47th president posted to Truth Social that “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,”
Mr. Trump added in that post that “He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin.” The president also called for the Islamic Republic’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.”
The Ayatollah, who succeeded Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini as Iran’s Supreme Leader, is 86 years old and has been in power for more than 35 years. This war, though, amounts to the most serious threat to his reign and to that of the revolutionary regime that came to power in 1979.
Mr. Trump on Tuesday convened his foreign policy camarilla to decide whether to join Israel’s fight against Iran — perhaps by directing a “bunker busting” at the Fordow nuclear facility. America— and not Israel — possess that kind of ordinance. The president has called for a “real end” to the war, rejecting the push by President Macron and others for an immediate ceasefire. Mr. Trump explains that he wants something “much bigger.”
A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that “any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region.”
Fordow aside, the Israeli Air Force announced on Wednesday that it has hit 1,100 Iranian assets since Friday. The IAF is increasingly targeting Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities to limit the Islamic Republic’s ability to strike at Israel’s civilian centers. Twenty-four Israelis have been killed since the fighting began. Alerts for incoming missiles have been constant in Tel Aviv, where this correspondent is stationed, and throughout Israel.
Mr. Netanyahu said at a press briefing on Monday that “We are changing the face of the Middle East. And this could lead to far-reaching changes within Iran itself.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
