Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reportedly told Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah there was an imminent plot to kill him and warned him to flee days before an Israel effectively carried out his assassination through an airstrike in Beirut.
According to Reuters, the warning took place right after the operation where thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah operatives exploded at the same time. Then, Khamenei sent a message through an envoy urging Nasrallah to flee for Iran, citing intelligence suggesting Israel had deeply infiltrated Hezbollah and has planning to kill him.
Quoting a senior Iranian official, the outlet added that the envoy ended up being killed along with Nasrallah on the Israeli airstrike last Friday. Khamenei has remained in a secure location since Saturday, where he also ordered Tuesday's retaliation through a barrage of some 200 missiles fired at Isarel.
The assassination of Nasrallah, as well as that of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran in late July, has eroded trust between Iran and Hezbollah and within them, Reuters explained. This situation could put a strain in the operations of the so-called Axis of Resistance, the term used to describe the armed militias acting against Israel.
Iran is bracing from a response from Israel, which anticipated would "defend the citizens of the State of Israel." Army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the military has "plans" and will respond at a time and place of its choosing.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement after the attack that "should the Zionist regime respond to Iran's operation, it will face crushing attacks." It added that it conducted the launches "with the support of the army and the Ministry of Defense."
Israeli authorities said most of the missiles were intercepted. The only confirmed victim from the attack was a Palestinian man from Jericho who was killed by falling debris from an interception.
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