The US should understand that the rules of the game in war against Iran have changed "before it is too late," Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday, a day after the US struck several Iranian tankers in the Gulf.
"From now on, any attack against Iran’s interests and security will receive a faster, heavier, and more painful response,” he said in a speech published on his Telegram channel.
Ghalibaf's statements follow Israeli intelligence analyses that the Islamic regime is reportedly preparing for a broad, coordinated attack against Israel on several fronts simultaneously, Israeli assessments indicate, in a scenario resembling a future October 7-style assault but designed from the outset to bring together all components of the Iranian axis.
Iran seeking to lead Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, Iraqi militias in single coordinated campaign, per Israeli assessments
According to the alleged assessments, Iran is seeking to combine its own forces with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas, the Houthis in Yemen and pro-Iranian militias in Iraq in a single campaign.
On October 7, Hamas launched its attack without the other fronts opening simultaneously and under full coordination. The idea of a broad regional war against Israel had emerged even earlier. Internal Hamas documents seized in the Gaza Strip after the attack indicated that Yahya Sinwar had sought to expand the confrontation and draw additional arenas into it.
One of the planning documents stressed the need to "connect and prepare the external fronts," namely Lebanon, Syria, and the Sinai Peninsula, as well as to agree in advance on communications mechanisms for both routine periods and wartime.
Anna Barsky contributed to this report.