GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 388

No Nukes

Iran Will Respond

Over the last two days Iran seems to be vacillating on whether they will respond to Israel’s devastating strikes on them or not. We listen to a report from The Times Of Israel hear what they are saying now to see which way they are leaning:

The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Monday that Israel had “failed to achieve its ominous goals” with its Saturday strikes on Iranian military sites.

We know that the strikes did indeed achieve the goals of the IDF, but we hear more about how Iran portrays the attacks:

Hossein Salami, quoted by the Tasnim news agency, said the Israeli attack, which came in retaliation for Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile barrage on the country, was a sign of “miscalculation and helplessness” as Israel battles the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

“Its bitter consequences will be unimaginable” for Israel, Salami warned according to Tasnim.

Bitter, Unimaginable? That sounds like they want to respond. This next spokesman makes it clearer that they are going to hit back:

Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei warned that Tehran would use “all available tools” to respond to Israel’s strikes.

Speaking at a weekly televised news conference, Baghaei said Iran would “use available tools to deliver a definite and effective response to the Zionist regime.”

As we should expect, they aren’t going to say what they will actually do:

The nature of Iran’s response depends on the nature of the Israeli attack, Baghaei added without elaborating.

They could be downplaying the actual devastation to allow for them to strike with less force:

Iran has attempted to downplay the retaliatory strike launched by Israel on Saturday, almost four weeks after the Islamic Republic’s barrage of some 200 ballistic missiles. The Israeli military said that the retaliatory attack had targeted strategic military sites — specifically, drone and ballistic missile manufacturing and launch sites, as well as air defense batteries.

The Iranian death toll rose to 5 now:

Iranian state media also reported on Monday that a civilian security guard had been killed in the attacks, the fifth confirmed person to die.

Iran’s top chief and president both chimed in as well with hints that a response will come:

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that the attack “should neither be exaggerated nor minimized,” but claimed that Israel, in its decision to retaliate, had underestimated “the power, initiative, and determination of the Iranian people.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said, meanwhile, that Iran does “not seek war but we will defend the rights of our nation and country,” and stressed that there would be “an appropriate response to the aggression of the Zionist regime.”

Overall, I see signs that if only to save face, they will respond.

No Iranian Nukes

We hear in an article from The Jerusalem Post that Prime Minister Netanyahu has no intentions of letting Iran get nuclear weapons:

Israel is determined to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday at the opening plenum of the Knesset’s winter session. He touted the IDF’s successful airstrike against Iran’s conventional military targets, including its production of antiballistic missiles, early Saturday.

He said this on the topic:

“Stopping the Iranian nuclear program is at the forefront of our minds, and for obvious reasons, I cannot share with you all our plans and actions in this regard,” Netanyahu said.

“Our long-term strategy, which I hope will be achieved in the near future, is to dismantle the axis of evil, cut off its arms in the South and in the North... to exact a heavy price from Iran and its proxies, and to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” he said.

“I have not given up, and we will not give up on this central goal,” he added.

The PM addressed the issue while talking to the entire Israeli government:

Israel is determined to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday at the opening plenum of the Knesset’s winter session. He touted the IDF’s successful airstrike against Iran’s conventional military targets, including its production of antiballistic missiles, early Saturday.

Some thought that they should have taken out the nuclear sites over the weekend, but the US is happy they didn’t:

Netanyahu had been under pressure to order a retaliatory strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. The Biden administration had been very public in its insistence that Israel not strike Iran’s nuclear facilities or its oil fields. Netanyahu’s critics have accused him of caving to US pressure and not taking into account Israel’s strategic needs.

The PM though, made it clear that the time will come regardless of what the world thinks:

Netanyahu defended himself against such charges during his speech.

“We maintain a continuous dialogue with our American friends, but the fateful decisions concerning our security, including the choice of goals and objectives, we make ourselves, according to our interests and considerations,” he said.

Netanyahu made it clear that Iran wants nuclear weapons regardless of what they tell people:

“Iran strives to develop a stockpile of nuclear bombs, which are aimed at destroying us, equipped with long-range missiles, intercontinental missiles that Iran intends to develop,” Netanyahu said.

Tehran “is building an industry of dangerous ballistic missiles,” he said.

The PM then made it clear that Israel is helping the region and the world out by keeping the Iranians in check:

Israel is the barrier to Iran’s regional and global ambitions, Netanyahu said, adding that if Israel falls, then so will the Middle East.

“But we have not fallen and we will not fall,” he said. “But we do not fall, and we will not fall. We will win, and the world will be a better place, a safer place. Our victory will not be just for us, it will be for all humanity.

As you pray for the peace of Jerusalem intercede specifically about the topics brought up.