Iranian military and energy to be target of Israeli retaliation - report

NBC reported that US officials believe Israel has focused its potential retaliation for Iran's recent ballistic missile barrage on military and energy infrastructure targets.

However, the US and Israeli officials speaking to NBC News told the network that the retaliation could come during the weekend's Yom Kippur holiday, which has now passed, showing the lack of clarity as to the exact timing of the response.

Following a stream of attacks, starting with the alleged Israeli killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, and most recently, an airstrike that killed long-time Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Iran launched its biggest barrage to date on the Jewish state this month.

On October 1, Iran launched 181 ballistic missiles at Israel, with several striking military and civilian infrastructure. The attack prompted Israel, Iran's longstanding adversary, to vow a strong retaliation.

NBC reported that there is no indication Israel will target nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations in its response. However, US officials emphasized that Israel has not yet made a final decision on the timing or nature of its retaliation, as the country is currently observing a series of religious holidays.

The US is now working to defuse a rapidly escalating situation, as Iran's proxies across the region continue to attack Israel from multiple fronts following the October 7 invasion by Iran-backed Hamas last year. However, a US official, speaking to Iran International on condition of anonymity, firmly stated that there are "absolutely no" back-channel talks between the US and Iran to ease tensions.

Since the missile barrage, while the US has affirmed Israel’s right to respond, President Joe Biden has made it clear he will not support a strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, despite the looming threat as Iran inches closer to developing a nuclear weapon—now only "weeks, not months" away, according to the UN's nuclear chief.

Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: ”The Iranian attack was aggressive but inaccurate. In contrast, our attack will be deadly, pinpoint accurate, and most importantly, surprising - they will not know what happened or how it happened. They will just see the results.”

The US official based in the region said that the Biden administration remains firm in its objection to nuclear targets being off limits. This was reiterated in a call last week between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long warned of Iran’s nuclear threat to the world.

"The fact is that the President and PM spoke spoke through issues and the President made it clear about what should not be done," he said, referring to the warning to avoid nuclear targets. "We've had more impact [influence on Bibi] than people give us credit for. It was a good conversation. Biden made clear what he doesn't support."

However, the official, who was also on the conference call between the two leaders, also said Israel, as a sovereign nation, has the right to decide independently of the US.

“We don't approve targets. We don't want responsibility for targets,” he said. “It’s not about approval. It's two sovereign countries [Israel and the US] but we make clear what would be problematic. For example, we said to ease up in Beirut [due to the impact on civilians] but that doesn't mean they aren't any legitimate targets,” as Israel continues to dismantle Iran’s largest proxy, Hezbollah, in Lebanon.

With oil a critical resource for heavily sanctioned Iran, it is also believed that Israel is weighing that as an option, but Biden has made clear that too would not be his choice of target. "If I were in their shoes, I'd be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields," Biden told reporters earlier this month.

In April, Iran launched its first direct attack on Israel, a barrage of 350 projectiles, following an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. The strike killed a senior Quds Force commander and multiple senior IRGC figures.

However, since October 7, proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen have launched a multi-front offensive against Israel in support of Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza.

One year ago, Hamas killed 1,100 mostly civilians and captured 251 more in a shock offensive that took the world by storm, revealing a much more sophisticated militia funded and trained by Iran, than had been understood.

Today, 101 hostages remain in Gaza and according to Hamas, around 42,000 Palestinians have died. Israel claims at least 16,000 are Hamas operatives.

“Not only at home, but the world does not understand what a horrific, brutal terror organization Hamas and Iran's proxies are,” the US official said. “They are not freedom fighters.”