The latest:
Iran has warned the United States it will retaliate forcefully against any Israeli assault on Ali al-Taher hill in south Lebanon, where Iranian military personnel are dug in alongside Hezbollah fighters, three officials told Reuters. The message was passed through Oman around mid-August. A White House official, asked about the warning and about US pressure on Israel, said it was not accurate.
Details:
- The Iranian force: Two regional officials briefed by Tehran told Reuters that more than a dozen members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including at least two senior officers, were positioned on the hill alongside Hezbollah fighters. Neither official was named. Hezbollah declined to say whether Iranian forces are present.
- The message: Tehran threatened that any full Israeli assault on the hill would be met with a large-scale Iranian attack, the three officials said. A foreign official with direct knowledge said it was delivered around mid-August via Oman, acting as mediator, and that Israel postponed storming the position under American pressure.
- What is inside: Lebanese security sources say Hezbollah built an underground command centre and weapons depots inside the hill, which overlooks southeastern Lebanon. The group has publicly said it controls the high ground and will confront any Israeli advance; its commanders referred to a facility there but refused to give details.
- The Israeli position: The Israeli military has seized wide areas south of Ali al-Taher and publicly described the hill as one of its main axes of operation. It says Hezbollah remains active around the site and launched armed drones toward Israeli troops nearby twice in the past week. It declined to comment on the Iranian message.
- The siege: The third official said the Israeli army is trying to force Hezbollah and Guard members out of hiding by besieging them and shooting down drones attempting to deliver food and water. An Israeli military official said in June that Hezbollah fighters were trapped underground without food or water.
- The Israeli estimate: Maariv, citing a military source on Thursday, reported that army assessments indicate no Revolutionary Guard forces are present on Ali al-Taher, and that some Hezbollah fighters have died from lack of food and water. That account contradicts the two regional officials briefed by Tehran.
- Hezbollah’s reading: The group’s media office neither confirmed nor denied the Iranian message, describing a message relayed through several states as “a natural conclusion”. It said Israel has spent roughly a month tightening a cordon to make the facility unlivable rather than launching a broad assault.
- The ceasefire dispute: Hezbollah’s media office said Iran regards any Israeli ground movement in south Lebanon, particularly territorial expansion, as a major breach of the Islamabad agreement, the US-Iranian memorandum signed in June that included a Lebanon ceasefire. Iran fired missiles at Israel in early June after strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
- Access and threat: A Lebanese source briefed by Hezbollah said fighters can still reach their positions from the northern slope. The group warned that a large-scale attack on the hill would mean a return to all-out war and could bring rockets down on residential areas in northern Israel.
Background:
The hill sits inside a security zone Israel declared unilaterally and occupies, barring Lebanese access. The June ceasefire was meant to precede Hezbollah’s disarmament south of the Litani, an Israeli withdrawal and a handover to the Lebanese army.
Between the lines:
Two irreconcilable accounts sit side by side: Tehran-briefed officials place Guards officers on the hill, while Israeli military estimates say none are there. Each carries a consequence. If Iranians are present, an assault risks the wide retaliation Tehran threatened; if they are not, the siege can continue without triggering it. Hezbollah’s own inference, that pressure replaced assault, points to a warning that landed.
What’s next
A Lebanese source and a senior Lebanese security official said an Israeli operation to seize the hill remains possible in the coming weeks. Watch for further drone launches near the site and any Iranian, Omani or Pentagon comment.
