Iran-Israel war: Lebanon front opens on fourth day, number of Iranian dead reaches 787

Tehran/Tel Aviv. Lebanon’s front opened on the fourth day of the US-Israeli attack on Iran and Iran’s retaliation. Israel crossed the border into Lebanon and the Lebanese forces had to evacuate several border posts and retreat. Meanwhile, the death toll in Iran in the last four days reached 787.

After Israel’s strong attack on Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that the forces have been given permission to capture many more strategic places in Lebanon. This step is very important for the people living on the border of their country. Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani stressed that the move was not the beginning of a major ground offensive in Lebanon, an army spokesman said. It is noteworthy that the southern areas of Lebanon are under the control of Iran-backed organization Hezbollah. He runs his activities from there. Earlier, a drone attack took place on the US Embassy in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. “According to initial estimates, the US Embassy in Riyadh has been targeted by a drone. The incident caused a small fire and minor damage to the building,” said Major General Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry. The Defense Ministry said that Saudi Arabia has shot down eight drones so far. Following these attacks, the US Embassy said that it has suspended services following the drone attack on its mission. Iran has warned ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a busy sea route. An Iranian Revolutionary Guard official said the Strait of Hormuz had been closed and ships trying to pass through would be attacked. “Hormuz is closed. If anyone tries to pass through, the Revolutionary Guard and the navy will attack those ships,” Ibrahim Jabari, a senior adviser to the Guard’s commander-in-chief, was quoted as saying.

It is noteworthy that the Strait of Hormuz is about 33 kilometers wide which connects major oil producers including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates to the global market through the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. About one-fifth of the world’s oil consumption passes through this waterway. During this period, there was a cloud of crisis over the energy units of Western Asia. An oil storage facility in Oman’s port Duqm was damaged following a drone attack on Tuesday. At the same time, Qatar Energy stopped the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after the drone attacks. The move came after Saudi Arabia confirmed it had temporarily shut down some units of its Ras Tanura oil refinery due to a fire following a separate drone attack. Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that America has sufficient stock of medium and upper-medium range weapons. He said he had “never been so strong” in terms of weapons stockpile so if this war could be fought ‘for a long time’. He said in a separate interview with CNN that the action was “very effective” and that the US was using its military power. Mr. Trump said the next phase is coming soon. Terming it a “big wave”, he said, “We have not yet hit them with full force. Big action is yet to come.” Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the main focus of the operation is to eliminate the threat posed by Iran’s short-range ballistic missile capability and its navy.