Israel Warns of ‘Different, Deadly, Devastating’ Attacks on Iran in the ‘Most Sensitive Places’ if War Resumes

Israel‘s Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Israel was waiting for a “green light” from the US to resume the war with Iran, adding that if it did, the military would begin by targeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and “return Iran to a dark age.”

“This time the attack will be different and deadly, delivering devastating blows in the most sensitive places,” Katz said in a statement released by his office.

The war, launched by the US and Israel on Feb. 28, has been paused since a ceasefire on April 8.

Amid the temporary truce, Iran flaunted its tightened grip over the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday with video of its commandos storming a huge cargo ship, after the collapse of peace talks that Washington had hoped would open the world’s most important shipping corridor.

Iranian state television broadcast footage overnight of masked troops pulling up in a grey speedboat alongside the MSC Francesca, climbing a rope ladder to a shell door in the hull and jumping through brandishing rifles.

The footage, presented with an action-movie-style soundtrack and no commentary, also included views of another ship, the Epaminondas. Iran said it had captured both on Wednesday, accusing them of trying to cross the strait without permits.

Air defense systems were heard engaging what were described as “hostile targets” in parts of the Iranian capital Tehran on Thursday evening, Iran‘s Mehr news agency reported, after earlier reports that air defense batteries had been activated in the city.

It was not clear what was being targeted but the reports drove oil prices sharply higher.

STRUGGLE FOR THE STRAIT

With the attacks on hold, attention has shifted to the shipping lanes off the coast of Iran.

Tehran says it will not consider opening the Strait of Hormuz, normally the route for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas, until the US lifts its blockade of Iran‘s shipping, which Washington imposed during the ceasefire and Tehran calls a violation of that truce.

In a social media post, US President Donald Trump said it was Washington that was in “total control” of the strait, which he described as “‘Sealed up Tight,’ until such time as Iran is able to make a DEAL!!!”

Trump and his military officials have said Iran‘s navy is “at the bottom of the sea,” but Tehran’s speedboats show that it can still wreak havoc on shipping.

Washington, which has been confronting Iranian ships in international waters to enforce its blockade, said it had boarded another tanker, the Majestic, in the Indian Ocean on Thursday, an apparent reference to a supertanker last reported off the coast of Sri Lanka carrying 2 million barrels of crude.

US forces have redirected 33 vessels since the blockade began, the military said on Thursday.

Iran‘s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said the merchant vessels Iran had seized had “faced the law,” while Iranian speedboats and marine drones were sheltering in sea caves off an island keeping the US Navy from approaching.

The vice speaker of Iran‘s parliament, Hamidreza Hajibabaei, said the first revenue from a toll Iran was now collecting from ships using the strait had been transferred to the central bank. He gave no further details about who had paid it or how much.

‘NEITHER PEACE NOR WAR’

Trump canceled threats to restart attacks on Iran in the ceasefire’s final hours on Tuesday. There has been no formal extension of the ceasefire, and no plans have been announced for further talks.

Pakistan, which hosted talks this month and had been preparing for a second round before it was called off on Tuesday, was still in touch with both sides, a Pakistani government source said. Iranian officials were still declining to commit to attend over the US blockade, the source added.

The US was separately due to host a second round of talks between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday, with Lebanon seeking an extension of a ceasefire reached last week in a war that has run in parallel to the Iran war.