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Iran Says Expects Hezbollah to Hit Deeper Inside Israel

Hezbollah fighters. (File photo/AFP)
Hezbollah fighters. (File photo/AFP)
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Iran Says Expects Hezbollah to Hit Deeper Inside Israel

Hezbollah fighters. (File photo/AFP)
Hezbollah fighters. (File photo/AFP)

Iran said on Saturday it expects Lebanon's Tehran-backed Hezbollah group to hit deeper inside Israel and no longer be confined to military targets after Israel killed the Hezbollah military commander.

Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israeli forces, saying it is targeting military positions over the border, since its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, sparking war in Gaza, AFP reported.

But a strike claimed by Israel in an overcrowded residential area of South Beirut changed the calculus, Iran's mission to the United Nations said.

"We expect... Hezbollah to choose more targets and (strike) deeper in its response," said the mission quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

"Secondly, that it will not limit its response to military targets."

The strike on Tuesday killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr. According to Lebanon's health ministry, five civilians -- three women and two children -- also died.

Israel said Shukr was responsible for rocket fire that killed 12 youths in the annexed Golan Heights, and had directed Hezbollah's attacks on Israel since the Gaza war began.

"Hezbollah and the (Israeli) regime had observed certain lines", including limiting strikes to border areas and military targets, Iran's mission said.

The Beirut strike crossed that line, it added.

Hours after Shukr's killing, the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in a pre-dawn "hit" on his accommodation in Tehran, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said.

On Thursday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Israel and "those who are behind it must await our inevitable response" to the killings of both Shukr and Haniyeh.

Iran and Hamas have also vowed to retaliate.

In Iran, the voices clamouring for revenge have intensified since Haniyeh's killing.

On Saturday, the ultraconservative Kayhan daily said retaliatory operations were expected to be "more diverse, more dispersed and impossible to intercept."

"This time, areas such as Tel Aviv and Haifa and the strategic centers and especially residences of some officials involved in the recent crimes are among the targets," Kayhan in an opinion piece.

Late Friday, an Iranian state TV presenter anticipated "astounding and major events" taking place "in the coming hours" in Israel.

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North Korea’s Kim Vows to Make His Nuclear Force Ready for Combat with US 

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivering his speech on the 76th anniversary of the country’s founding in Pyongyang, North Korea, 09 September 2024 (issued 10 September 2024). (EPA/KCNA)
A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivering his speech on the 76th anniversary of the country’s founding in Pyongyang, North Korea, 09 September 2024 (issued 10 September 2024). (EPA/KCNA)
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North Korea’s Kim Vows to Make His Nuclear Force Ready for Combat with US 

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivering his speech on the 76th anniversary of the country’s founding in Pyongyang, North Korea, 09 September 2024 (issued 10 September 2024). (EPA/KCNA)
A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivering his speech on the 76th anniversary of the country’s founding in Pyongyang, North Korea, 09 September 2024 (issued 10 September 2024). (EPA/KCNA)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to redouble efforts to make his nuclear force fully ready for combat with the United States and its allies, state media reported Tuesday, after the country disclosed a new platform likely designed to fire more powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles targeting the mainland US.

Kim has repeatedly made similar pledges, but his latest threat comes as outside experts believe Kim will perform provocative weapons tests ahead of the US presidential election in November. In recent days, North Korea has also resumed launches of trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea.

In a speech marking the 76th founding anniversary for his government on Monday, Kim said North Korea faces "a grave threat" because of what he called "the reckless expansion" of a US-led regional military bloc that is now developing into a nuclear-based one.

Kim said such a development is pushing North Korea to boost its military capability, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

He said North Korea will "redouble its measures and efforts to make all the armed forces of the state including the nuclear force fully ready for combat," KCNA reported.

North Korea has been protesting the July signing of a new US-South Korean defense guideline meant to integrate US nuclear weapons and South Korean conventional weapons to cope with growing North Korean nuclear threats. North Korea said the guideline revealed its adversaries’ plots to invade the country. US and South Korean officials have repeatedly said they don't intend to attack the country.

Since 2022, North Korea has significantly accelerated its weapons testing activities in a bid to perfect its capabilities to launch strikes on the US and South Korea. The US and South Korea have responded by expanding military drills that North Korea calls invasion rehearsals.

Many analysts believe North Korea has some last remaining technological barriers to overcome to acquire long-range nuclear missiles that can reach the US mainland, though it likely already possesses missiles that can hit key targets in South Korea and Japan.

South Korean officials and experts say North Korea could conduct nuclear tests or ICBM test-launches before the US election to increase its leverage in future diplomacy with the US. Observers say North Korea likely thinks a greater nuclear capability would help it win US concessions like sanctions relief.

North Korea as of Tuesday morning did not appear to have staged any major military demonstration to mark this year’s anniversary. But the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Sunday published a photo of Kim inspecting what appeared to be a 12-axle missile launch vehicle, which would be the largest the country has shown so far, during a visit to a munitions plant.

This sparked speculation that the North could be developing a new ICBM that is bigger than its current Hwasong-17 ICBM, which is launched on an 11-axle vehicle.

When asked about the photo on Monday, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder refused to provide a specific assessment of North Korea’s missile capabilities and reiterated that Washington was working closely with Seoul, Tokyo and other partners to preserve regional security and deter potential attacks.

"It’s not unusual for North Korea to use media reports and imagery to try to telegraph, you know, to the world," he said.

North Korea flew hundreds of huge balloons carrying rubbish toward South Korea for five straight days through Sunday, extending a Cold War-style psychological warfare campaign that has further stoked animosities on the Korean Peninsula. The balloons largely contained waste papers and vinyl, and there has been no reports of major damage.

North Korea began its balloon campaign in late May, calling it a response to South Korean civilians flying propaganda leaflets across the border via their own balloons. South Korea later restarted its anti-Pyongyang propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts along the rivals' tense land border.

Observers say North Korea is extremely sensitive to South Korean leafleting activities and loudspeaker broadcasts as they could hamper its efforts to ban foreign news to its 26 million people.