WW3 fears erupt as Israel 'threatens' to strike nuclear targets if Iran launches attack

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Tensions between Israel and Iran reached new highs after a high-precision airstrike on an Iranian consular building killed one of Tehran’s most important generals.

By Alice Scarsi, World News Reporter

22:54, Tue, Apr 9, 2024 | UPDATED: 23:06, Tue, Apr 9, 2024

Benjamin Netanyahu is Israel’s Prime Minister (Image: GETTY)

World War 3 fears have erupted as tensions in the Middle East continue to grow.

Israel is prepared to launch an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities should Tehran respond to last week’s strike in Damascus, a source has claimed.

Citing an unnamed “Western security official”, London-based Elaph News alleged Israel has been carrying out air force drills in recent days that include preparing to target nuclear facilities as well as other key infrastructure in Iran.

On April 1, a high-precision airstrike on an Iranian consular building in the capital city of Syria killed Mohammad Reza Zahedi, described as Tehran’s most important general.

Iran blamed the strike, which killed 16 people in total including six other members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, on Israel, and vowed revenge.

On April 7, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to threaten an attack on Israeli embassies around the world, as he claimed they were “no longer safe”.

The adviser, Yahya Rahim Safavi, added Tehran viewed confrontation with Israel as a “legitimate and legal right”.

Iran’s news agency ISNA also published a graphic showing Iranian-made missiles it claims can hit Israel.

Emergency services at the site of the strike in Damascus (Image: GETTY)

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday that his country was ready to respond to any attack by the Islamic Republic, stating Tel Aviv has “completed preparations for a response against any scenario that would develop against Iran”.

Similarly, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told the Italian daily Repubblica on Tuesday: “If Iran attacks us directly, we will attack Iran. And if it’s the militias allied with Iran that do it, as a reprisal for the destruction of the [Iranian] consulate in Damascus, we will attack them as well.”

This major escalation of tensions in the Middle East has sparked fears of an all-out war between the two countries.

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However, the latest US intelligence assessment suggests Iran would not attack Israel directly fearing the repercussions of a global conflict, according to intelligence sources quoted by CNN.

These fears come as Lord David Cameron, the British Foreign Secretary, confirmed London won’t stop supplying arms exports to Israel following the killing of seven aid workers in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza last week.

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