Iran’s supreme leader reportedly moved to secure location amid fears of Israeli strike

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Israel said it targeted another top Hezbollah commander on Sunday, just two days after it killed the group’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike in Beirut, while Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was reportedly moved to a secure location inside Iran amid fears that Israel may target him as well.

The fast-moving developments across the Middle East resemble the kind of escalation that the Biden administration has tried desperately to prevent.

Israel is growing more aggressive in its military campaign against Iran and its network of proxy groups across the Middle East. In addition to more attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israeli strikes on Sunday targeted Yemen’s Houthi rebels, another Iran-backed group. The Israeli military separately said it discovered and dismantled a series of tunnels used by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The scale and ferocity of the multifaceted Israeli military operations across the region are unlike anything in decades. Top Biden administration officials said the U.S. and Israel were preparing for a possible Iranian attack on Israel.

“The rhetoric certainly suggests they’re going to try to do something,” John Kirby, White House National Security Council spokesperson, told ABC’s “This Week.” “But we don’t really know. We’re watching this very, very closely to see how, if and how, Hezbollah and/or Iran may react, as well as the militia groups in Iraq and Syria.

“We have to be prepared for some sort of response. We have to make sure that we are ready — and we are,” Mr. Kirby said. “We believe we have the force capability we need in the region. But it’s not clear right now. Too soon to know how Iran’s going to react to this.”

The Pentagon said it is ready to deploy additional military assets to the Middle East if necessary to support Israel and to help guard U.S. personnel in the theater. Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, said the U.S. intends to “further reinforce our defensive air-support capabilities in the coming days.”

The Defense Department last week announced another detachment of troops to the Middle East, but that was before the Israeli strike killed Nasrallah. The situation has grown considerably more tense.

That Israeli strike also killed a senior officer in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iranian officials vowed that the strikes would not go “unanswered.” Iranian Vice President Mohammad Javad Zarif seemed to all but guarantee an Iranian response.

“Iran’s reaction will be done at the appropriate time and according to Iran’s choice against the crimes of the Zionist regime, and decisions will be made at the leadership and high level of the government in this regard,” he said Sunday, according to Iranian state-controlled media.

Still, signs of fear were showing in Tehran. Citing unidentified sources, Reuters reported Sunday that Ayatollah Khamenei had been taken to a secure, undisclosed location in Iran. The move seems to suggest that Tehran thinks Israel may target the ayatollah, one of the most influential religious figures in the region and the top political decision-maker in Tehran.

The IRGC has reportedly ordered its officials to stop using communications devices such as pagers and walkie-talkies after explosives planted inside devices used by Hezbollah were detonated in a coordinated strike in Lebanon earlier this month. Israel is thought to have carried out the operation. 

The Israel Defense Forces are also ramping up more conventional operations against Hezbollah, a key piece of Iran’s “axis of resistance.” The network of proxy groups across the Middle East also includes Hamas, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, and militias in Iraq and Syria. Israel hit Hezbollah with another round of airstrikes Sunday morning, and IDF officials said they killed Nabil Kaouk, a top official with the terrorist group.

“The IDF will continue to strike and eliminate the commanders within the Hezbollah terrorist organization and will act against anyone who threatens the citizens of the state of Israel,” the IDF posted on X.

On Friday, Israeli strikes killed Nasrallah, 64, the longtime head of Hezbollah and one of the most influential terrorist figures in the Middle East. Israeli military officials said they had tracked Nasrallah’s movements for years. The killing is a major success for the Israeli military and intelligence services.

The strike also reportedly killed IRGC Gen. Abbas Nilforushan. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the “horrible and cowardly act” would not go “unanswered.” Iran launched a major drone and missile attack against Israel in April, but the attack was foiled by Israeli and U.S. air defenses.

A wider war takes shape

Israel is escalating its conflict with Hezbollah as it continues its military campaign in the Gaza Strip against Hamas, the Iran-backed terrorist outfit that attacked citizens in Israel on Oct. 7.

The IDF said Sunday that it discovered and destroyed another series of tunnels used by Hamas in Gaza. Those tunnels are thought to have helped Hamas conceal the roughly 100 hostages it is still holding. The militants took more than 250 hostages during its attack last year.

The IDF also reportedly targeted the Houthi rebels in Yemen on Sunday. The Times of Israel reported that the Israeli military hit several ports and power plants used by the Houthis. The Iran-backed group has repeatedly targeted Israel with missiles and drones in addition to its ongoing campaign to disrupt commercial ship traffic in and around the Red Sea, one of the world’s most critical maritime corridors.

It is no coincidence that Israel is simultaneously ramping up its operations across the Middle East. In a statement Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the region is discovering Israel’s determination and its military capabilities.

“Not only has Hezbollah discovered this, the entire Middle East has discovered this,” he said.

“All those who oppose the axis of evil, all those who are fighting under the violent dictatorship of Iran and its proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iran itself and other places, they are all filled with hope today,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “I say to the citizens of those countries: Israel stands with you. And to the ayatollahs’ regime, I say: Those who strike us, we strike them. There is no place in Iran or the Middle East that the long arm of Israel cannot reach.”

For the U.S., the death of Nasrallah fuels fears of escalation in the Middle East. In a statement Saturday, President Biden cast the Israeli strike that killed Nasrallah as a just act, but he again pleaded for all sides to avoid further conflict and embrace cease-fire proposals.

“Hassan Nasrallah and the terrorist group he led, Hezbollah, were responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade reign of terror,” Mr. Biden said. “His death from an Israeli airstrike is a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians.”

“Ultimately, our aim is to deescalate the ongoing conflicts in both Gaza and Lebanon through diplomatic means,” the president said. “In Gaza, we have been pursuing a deal backed by the U.N. Security Council for a cease-fire and the release of hostages. In Lebanon, we have been negotiating a deal that would return people safely to their homes in Israel and southern Lebanon. It is time for these deals to close, for the threats to Israel to be removed, and for the broader Middle East region to gain greater stability.”