Iran has now affirmed that the “unity of the fronts” is not mere rhetoric.
LATE last month, Israel threatened to attack the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. Iran, in response, announced that it was halting all communications and talks with the United States and warned of grave consequences in the event of an Israeli attack on Beirut. After a phone call between Trump and Netanyahu, the Israelis stood down.
The rabid Israeli dog doesn’t stay leashed for long, however. On Sunday afternoon, the Israelis bombed a residential building in Dahiyeh. The attack, which Israeli media reported was coordinated with the United States, was described as a symbolic strike intended to assess Iranian resolve, since the Islamic Republic has insisted on Lebanon’s inclusion in the ceasefire deal with the United States.
The onus, then, was on Iran to prove that its red lines meant red lines and not empty threats.
Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson for the National Security Committee in the Iranian parliament, made it clear that a response would be forthcoming:
“We will respond to the attack on the Dahiyeh with a decisive and painful response. This rabid dog must be disciplined and returned to its place. Watch the skies of the Zionist entity tonight.”
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Speaker of the Iranian parliament, wrote on Twitter that American approval for the attack on Dahiyeh had turned its “bases and assets in the region” into legitimate targets.
Iran, which has been affirming the “unity of the fronts” in confronting the genocidal Israelis, retaliated in kind late Sunday night. Launching from multiple bases, the Islamic Republic fired about two dozen projectiles at various locations in northern Israel. Several impacts inside occupied Palestine were filmed:
According to Israeli media reports, most of the Iranian missiles were intercepted mid-air, causing fires that were brought under control. “Fire and rescue services said that their forces are working to extinguish three fires in open areas in northern Israel that broke out as a result of missile interceptions following an Iranian barrage, and that they have brought fires under control,” Haaretz reported.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said that it targeted the Ramat David airbase in occupied Palestine as a warning and is ready to escalate in case of further violations of the April ceasefire, which also included Lebanon, as stated by Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in his announcement of the deal.
IRGC:
“In response to the widespread crimes of the occupying Israeli regime in southern Lebanon, and the massacre and mass displacement of the oppressed people in the areas of Sour, Nabatiyeh, and other points, including the Beirut suburbs, Ramat David airbase — the origin of these aggressions — was targeted by ballistic missiles of the IRGC Aerospace Force.
“Our acceptance of the ceasefire on April 9, 2026, was conditional on the cessation of fire on all fronts; however, as always, the American and Israeli regimes did not adhere to their commitments. They continued their aggressions and crimes in Lebanon, and violated the ceasefire by repeatedly attacking Iranian coasts and vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman, and the Indian Ocean.
“Tonight’s operation was a warning, and in the event of repeated aggressions, the responses will be more extensive and will encompass all American-Zionist targets in the region.”
In a statement of its own, Iran’s Foreign Ministry emphasised that Lebanon was part of the ceasefire agreement and that its violation prompted the Iranian response:
“The Islamic Republic of Iran, emphasising the Iranian nation’s strong determination to decisively defend its security and national interests at any point it deems appropriate, recalls that the ceasefire in Lebanon was an integral part of the ceasefire agreement dated April 8, 2026, and that the US government bears direct responsibility for the violations of this ceasefire by the Zionist regime and the consequences thereof, as well as any increase in tension in the region.”
One of the Iranian drones fired at Israel carried the following message: “We will not abandon Lebanon.”
Trump seemingly sought to deescalate the situation.
“It’s certainly not going to help negotiations,” Trump told Fox News. “We’re very close. I would say an agreement would be signed on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week. And now this takes place,” he said.
“You’ve shot your missiles, that’s enough. Get back to the table and make a deal,” he added.
In remarks made to the Financial Times, Trump insisted — despite sounding exasperated in his earlier comments to Fox News — that he holds the cards when it comes to dealing with Netanyahu. “He won’t have any choice,” Trump told the FT in a telephone interview.
“I call the shots. I call all the shots. He [Netanyahu] doesn’t call the shots.”
It is difficult to draw firm conclusions from the remarks of the notoriously unpredictable Trump. Nevertheless, with midterm elections approaching and his approval ratings in the gutter, it is reasonable to infer that he is eager to bring an increasingly unpopular war to a close — one that Israel, which is pushing to fuse its own military with the US’s, pressured him to enter despite divisions within his own base over the wisdom of escalating hostilities against a country they did not view as posing a threat to the United States.
Iran, on the other hand, has now affirmed that the “unity of the fronts” is not mere rhetoric. It is willing to come to the defence of its allies across the Middle East. The Iranian response to the Beirut attack would reassure Ansarallah when it coordinates with Iran in the blockade of the Bab-el-Mandeb strait in the Red Sea in the inevitable next phase of the war.
This should serve as a lesson for the Israelis as they continue to escalate their barbaric assault on the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon with the aim of occupying more Arab territory. Whether the next exchange remains limited or spirals outward depends less on rhetoric than on restraint. — Palestine Will Be Free
