Russia has begun supplying Iran with advanced radars and air defense equipment, the New York Times claims. The newspaper cites two Iranian officials, one of whom serves in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
New York Times sources called this part of preparations for an attack on Israel. According to the newspaper, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered a direct strike on Israel in response to the assassination of Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh.
Yesterday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that the Iranian Foreign Ministry had conveyed to him a warning about the impending attack through the Hungarian authorities. The Israeli publication YNet claimed that the Israeli Security Council had considered a preemptive strike on Iran among possible options.
Yesterday, former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who currently holds the post of Secretary of the Russian Security Council, arrived in Iran. According to the Iranian Tasnim news agency, he met with the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the new president of Iran. President Masoud Pezeshkian once again promised to answer for Haniyeh at the meeting.
The murder of Ismail Haniyeh, who had lived in Turkey and Qatar in recent years, occurred on the night of July 31 in Tehran. He came there for Pezeshkian's inauguration. According to the Iranian authorities, the guesthouse where Haniyeh was staying was hit by a «short-range projectile.» The New York Times cited another version, according to which a bomb was planted in the house two months before and activated remotely. The Israeli authorities have denied involvement in the murder.