“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (Moscow) and Tubal (Tobalsk): And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws… And Persia (Iran) with you…” – Ezekiel 38:3-5
THE TIMES OF ISRAEL reports: Iranian officials say Russia has begun delivering advanced air defense equipment to Iran after Tehran asked the Kremlin for the arms, the NYT reported on Monday.
While local Iranian media reported that Tehran had requested the equipment, a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards and another official confirmed to the Times that not only had the request been made, but that deliveries started.
The development came with the Mideast on edge at the expectation of a direct Iranian attack on Israel as revenge for Israel’s alleged assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Iran says Israel must be “punished” for Haniyeh’s assassination and they have vowed to take action, raising the worries that its response could bring the restive Middle East closer to all-out war. Iranian proxy group Hezbollah has threatened to strike Israel from Lebanon following the assassination of its military leader Fuad Shukr in an attack near Beirut last week claimed by Israel.
Israel has said it is ready to defend itself and will hit back at any aggression. Ynet reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed with the country’s security chiefs the option of preemptively striking Iran to foil an imminent attack in a meeting on Sunday. On Monday, Defense Minister Gallant said the country must be ready to quickly go on the offensive in the event of an Iranian assault.
The New York Times report did not say what equipment Iran had requested from Russia or what had been delivered. Iran already has some Russian-made S-300 air defense systems, though Moscow now has the more advanced S-400 system.
Iran carried out an unprecedented direct attack on Israel in April that it said was revenge for the killing of a senior army commander in a Syria strike it blamed on Israel. The wave of some 300 missiles and drones was almost entirely intercepted by Israeli air defense systems in cooperation with the US and a roster of allies and Arab countries in the region. It caused only minor damage, though a young Bedouin girl was seriously hurt by falling shrapnel.
At the time, Israel responded by striking an S-300 system near an Iranian nuclear site, though it did not confirm the matter.
The Times report came as Iranian state media said the country’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian told a visiting senior ally of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin that Tehran is determined to expand relations with its “strategic partner Russia.”
“Russia is among the countries that have stood by Iran during our difficult times,” Pezeshkian told Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s security council, Iranian state media reported.
In further comments reported during the meeting with Shoigu, Pezeshkian had said Israel’s “criminal actions” in Gaza and the assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran last week “are clear examples of the violation of all international laws and regulations.”
Tehran has for years been arming and training proxy groups around the Middle East including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis in Yemen to attack Israel.
War had erupted on October 7th when Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating cross-border attack on the Jewish State that killed 1,200 people, during which terrorists abducted 251 people to Gaza. Israel responded with a military offensive in order to destroy Hamas in Gaza and free the hostages.
Russia has largely backed Hamas and the allied terrorist groups since the October 7 massacres… (Continue reading)
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