Iran warns of expanded retaliation as Israel orders military to prepare for possible attack

DUBAI — Israel has reportedly ordered its military to prepare for a possible attack on Iran as Tehran warned it would expand the war beyond the region if attacked.

“The directives issued by the security cabinet to the Israeli military could lead it to carry out activities that could trigger a war,” Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported late Wednesday.

KAN said the directives were made public after Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot issued a statement urging caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from unnecessary military operations until the next government is formed.

The security cabinet last met in person on Oct. 5, weeks before the Oct. 27 legislative elections.

In his statement on Wednesday on social media platform X, Eisenkot warned against deploying security forces without a direct and immediate threat requiring urgent action, saying this could have devastating consequences for Israeli democracy and public trust in state institutions.

Eisenkot was offered the chance to form a new government by Israeli President Isaac Herzog over the weekend after Netanyahu’s ruling coalition lost its parliamentary majority in the October elections.

Eisenkot urged Netanyahu to exercise restraint and avoid placing security chiefs in a constitutional dilemma over which orders they should follow.

The warning followed a report on Tuesday by Channel 12 that Netanyahu and Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir were again at odds over possible action against Iran.

According to the channel, Zamir considered the steps Netanyahu was pursuing ill-advised and liable to trigger a confrontation at a time requiring caution, particularly as US President Donald Trump showed no desire to enter another conflict.

Netanyahu, who is on the cusp of losing power if the opposition succeeds in forming a government, has been adamant that the war on Iran will continue until the collapse of the government in Tehran.

Reports of Israeli preparations to attack Iran come at a time of intense diplomatic efforts to avert further conflict and reach a diplomatic solution.

Trump has said that he is prepared to return to waging war if a diplomatic track offered by Qatar fails to facilitate a deal between Washington and Tehran.

Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei said in a social media post, “If the US launches another war against Iran, every military base involved in the aggression, from West Asia to Europe, will be a legitimate target for Iran’s lethal strikes.”

“No safe distance. No safe haven. No immunity,” he added.

Iran's Parliament Speaker and lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf commented on Tehran’s resolve to move beyond the current state of “no war, no peace” through “sustainable deterrence” if negotiations fail.

Ghalibaf told Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview published on Wednesday that the Strait of Hormuz will “never return” to its status prior to the US-Israel war on Iran and that “the ball is now in the American court”.

“What stands in the way of an agreement is our lack of trust in the United States,” he said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the Trump administration’s economic pressure campaign against Iran is proving so effective that a resumption of large-scale military operations is unnecessary.

“Over the last few days, both the president and Marco Rubio have said, effectively, that large-scale military engagement is over. They do not see the need to restart it unless Iran crosses red lines,” Fisher said, adding that the “key issue for this White House is always to be in a position where Trump can declare victory”.

“But it is clear there is some movement behind the scenes as far as negotiating a settlement,” he said.

Despite the push for peace, US forces “continue to work around the clock” in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open for commercial shipping, strictly enforcing the “ironclad” naval blockade against Iran, according to the US Central Command.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Iran will not bow to pressure and sanctions, and will overcome its economic problems by relying on its domestic capabilities.

Pezeshkian made the remarks during a meeting with Nechirvan Barzani, the president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on the sidelines of the COP31 climate summit in Turkey, according to the Iranian presidency.

He said pressure, sanctions and losses suffered by Iran had failed to weaken the will of the country’s people. He said Iran’s enemies could not isolate it economically because it had good friends and neighbours, such as the people of the Kurdistan Region.

Pezeshkian accused Iran’s enemies of trying to target people’s livelihoods by restricting the routes used to supply basic goods, saying they had even pressured countries in the region to block routes for food and medicine.

He said that, unlike the leaders of some countries, neither Iran’s leaders nor its people would surrender to bullying.