Hezbollah might attack Israeli target to help Iran

IDF Northern Command believes regime in Iran may initiate attack if it feels under pressure due to anti-government protests.

By YAAKOV KATZ
Hezbollah (photo credit: AP)
Hezbollah
(photo credit: AP)
Tehran could activate Hezbollah forces to attack Israel along the northern border in an effort to stave off domestic pressures within Iran, according to assessments in the IDF’s Northern Command.
The concern within the army is that if the regime in Tehran feels under pressure due to anti-government demonstrations it will try to initiate an attack on an Israeli target – either overseas or near the border – to divert attention from its own troubles.
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Demonstrations picked up speed in Iran on Sunday with reports that at least two people were killed and that Hezbollah operatives were assisting Iranian security forces in suppressing the protests.
“There has always been one common enemy for the Islamic world, and that is Israel,” a senior defense official said. “Israel will then need to consider how to respond to the attack, and depending on its response, if the conflict develops the world will be focused on Israel and not on what is happening on the streets of Tehran.”
Last week, Israeli embassies were placed on heightened alert and four were closed following concrete warnings of possible terrorist attacks timed to mark the third anniversary of Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyeh’s assassination.
The Foreign Ministry said that a number of “irregular incidents” had been noticed recently around a number of diplomatic missions abroad. In 2008, a bomb plot was uncovered against the embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan.