Iran Braces for Retaliatory Israeli Attack

DUBAI—Iran is bracing for a retaliatory Israeli attack on its territory or proxies, as the U.S. and European nations pressed Israel for a response that cools tensions caused by Tehran’s weekend missile and drone assault.

Iran said Wednesday it was readying its air force for strikes and its navy would begin escorting commercial Iranian ships in the Red Sea. Tehran also has begun evacuating personnel from sites in Syria where its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has a large presence, Syrian and Iranian officials and advisers said.

The IRGC and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah have reduced the presence of their senior officers in Syria while midranking officers are shifting from their original locations in the country, Syrian security officials said.

The Biden administration is encouraging Israel not to retaliate and to instead be satisfied that a U.S.-brokered alliance including Israel and Arab nations successfully repelled Iran’s Saturday assault, which included more than 300 attack drones and cruise and ballistic missiles. British and German foreign ministers were in Israel Wednesday to reinforce that message of de-escalation.

Israel has said it intends to respond, but officials are still undecided on the nature of the retaliation.

The shape of its response has the potential to expand Israel’s conflict in Gaza with Tehran-backed Palestinian group Hamas into a wider regional war, an outcome most sides appear eager to avoid, though fears are growing that Israel and Iran could misinterpret each other’s intentions.

To encourage Israel to limit its response, the White House said Tuesday it would impose a series of economic sanctions on Iran, including on the IRGC and its missile and drone programs. Other sanctions could target its oil industry and its ability to raise government revenues.

In a sign Israel is considering the U.S. and its allies’ message, Israeli officials assured Gulf states and other Arab countries on Monday that its response to Iran’s attack wouldn’t endanger their security and would likely be limited in scope, The Wall Street Journal reported. Israel is likely to warn its Arab allies before it retaliates and could limit its attacks to Iran-linked facilities in Syria, according to regional Arab officials.

Already, Iran’s IRGC has enacted emergency measures for its facilities across Syria. Some IRGC members have evacuated their bases in Syria and others are doing so at night when Israeli strikes are most likely. Only a few soldiers are staying behind to defend arsenals.

Iran-linked facilities in Syria are viewed by military experts as an option that would allow Israel to respond but avoid a spiral of tit-for-tat exchanges that lead to a broader conflagration.

Tehran, at the same time, has said it would respond to any Israeli action, signaling that it no longer wants to continue its decadeslong shadow war with Israel—fought largely with its proxies—and will now engage directly.

“The smallest action against Iran’s interests will definitely be met with a severe, extensive and painful response against all its perpetrators,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said.

Israel already engages in almost daily exchanges of fire with Iran’s most potent proxy, the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. The Israeli military said Tuesday it had launched airstrikes and killed two senior Hezbollah commanders who were involved in launching rocket and antitank missile attacks toward Israeli territory. Hezbollah confirmed the commanders’ deaths.

The Israeli military also continued to operate against Hamas in Gaza in recent days, saying it launched strikes against 40 targets throughout the Palestinian enclave.

Activity in Gaza has slowed in recent weeks, compared with the start of the war, as Israel has weighed whether to mount a decisive operation in the southern city of Rafah—where more than a million Palestinians are seeking refuge—and Israeli officials in recent days have focused on Iran.

Benoit Faucon contributed to this article.

Write to Rory Jones at [email protected] and Summer Said at [email protected]