Israel Defense Forces have warned that Iran’s new leadership is even more extreme than its predecessor, the Times of Israel reported.
The IDF briefed the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee during a closed-door intelligence briefing Thursday, two sources told the Times of Israel.
Iran’s new leadership is made up of members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who are considered to be far more ideologically rigid than the previous political leadership, according to the Times of Israel.
While a two-week ceasefire was agreed to by President Donald Trump and Iran, Israeli Defense Committee Chair Boaz Bismuth issued a warning on social media following the meeting. He said, “There is a possibility that the campaign will resume in the coming days.”
“We are only at an interim stage,” Bismuth said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was still more work to be done and that Israel would be ready to resume fighting at a moment’s notice.
After the meeting, the panel announced that it approved the extension of the call-up of up to 400,000 reservists until May 14, the Times of Israel reported. The previous cap was 280,000, which was approved in December.
Vice President JD Vance headed Friday to Pakistan for high-level talks with Iranian officials, as Israel and Hezbollah traded fire and Tehran maintained its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
Many issues could derail the truce and the negotiations aimed at making a broader deal to stop the fighting permanently.
Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency, close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, claimed that the talks set for Saturday would not happen unless Israel stopped its attacks in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Trump said on social media that Iran has no leverage except to restrict ship traffic in the strait, through which 20% of the world’s traded oil once passed.
Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon were expected to begin next week in the U.S. capital, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the delicacy of the matter.
Israel’s insistence that the ceasefire in Iran does not include a pause in its fighting with Hezbollah has threatened to sink the deal. The militant group joined the war in support of its backer, Iran.
The day the truce was announced, Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes, killing more than 300 people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. It was the deadliest day in the country since the war began Feb. 28.
Trump said Thursday that he had asked Netanyahu to dial back the strikes.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sam Barron ✉
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