Iran's Supreme Leader: Militant Groups Against Israel Remain Strong

02 November 2024, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd during a meeting with school and university students in Tehran. Office/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
02 November 2024, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd during a meeting with school and university students in Tehran. Office/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Iran's Supreme Leader: Militant Groups Against Israel Remain Strong

02 November 2024, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd during a meeting with school and university students in Tehran. Office/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
02 November 2024, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd during a meeting with school and university students in Tehran. Office/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Thursday the alliance of militant groups opposed to Israel remains strong despite the killing of many of their senior leaders.

“God willing, the world will see a day when the Zionist regime will be defeated by them,” Iranian state TV reported Khamenei as saying.

Khamenei said Hamas and other “leaders of the resistance” are “still fighting” even though some of their leaders have been killed by intensified Israeli airstrikes.

Israeli strikes and military operations in recent months have killed the top leaders of both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as many of their senior commanders.

Both groups are part of the so-called Axis of Resistance, which includes other Iran-backed groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Iran and its allies have repeatedly traded fire with Israel and the United States over the past year following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, raising fears of a regional war.



Israel Signs $5.2 Bln Deal to F-15 Fighter Jets from Boeing

FILE PHOTO: A F-15 fighter jet takes off during a graduation ceremony for Israeli Air Force pilots at Hatzerim Airbase, in southern Israel, June 29, 2023. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A F-15 fighter jet takes off during a graduation ceremony for Israeli Air Force pilots at Hatzerim Airbase, in southern Israel, June 29, 2023. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
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Israel Signs $5.2 Bln Deal to F-15 Fighter Jets from Boeing

FILE PHOTO: A F-15 fighter jet takes off during a graduation ceremony for Israeli Air Force pilots at Hatzerim Airbase, in southern Israel, June 29, 2023. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A F-15 fighter jet takes off during a graduation ceremony for Israeli Air Force pilots at Hatzerim Airbase, in southern Israel, June 29, 2023. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo

The Israeli defense ministry said on Thursday it had signed an agreement to acquire 25 next generation F-15 fighter jets from Boeing Co.

It said the $5.2 billion agreement was part of a broader package of US aid approved by the US administration and Congress earlier this year and included an option for 25 additional aircraft.

The United States has provided crucial military support to Israel as it has battled Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and traded fire with Iran.
The Biden administration recently warned Israel that if it did not facilitate the delivery of more aid to Gaza, US laws may force the administration to curb some of its military support.
The State Department said this week that Israel had yet to sufficiently improve aid deliveries ahead of a mid-November deadline.
President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to end the wars in the Middle East without saying how he plans to do it.

Delivery of the new F-15IA aircraft will begin in 2031, with 4-6 aircraft to be supplied annually, said the Israeli defense ministry.

The aircraft will be equipped with weapons systems integrated with existing Israeli weapons as well as having increased range and payloads.

"These advantages will enable the Israeli Air Force to maintain its strategic superiority in addressing current and future challenges in the Middle East," the ministry said in a statement.

"This F-15 squadron, alongside the third F-35 squadron procured earlier this year, represents a historic enhancement of our air power and strategic reach - capabilities that proved crucial during the current war," the director general of the defense ministry, Eyal Zamir, said in the statement.

Zamir said that the government has secured procurement agreements worth nearly $40 billion since the onset of the war in Gaza that began Oct. 7, 2023.

"While focusing on immediate needs for advanced weaponry and ammunition at unprecedented levels, we're simultaneously investing in long-term strategic capabilities," he said.

For Boeing, the F-15 agreement is the second major deal this year. In August, flag carrier El Al Israel Airlines, signed a deal with Boeing for the purchase of up to 31 737 MAX aircraft worth as much as $2.5 billion, beating out rival Airbus.

Ido Nehushtan, president of Boeing Israel, said the company's relationship dates back to Israel's establishment and "will continue working with the US and Israeli governments to deliver the advanced F-15IA aircraft through standard military procurement channels."