Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said Iran’s missiles were ready to turn northern Israel into “hell” if enemy forces moved toward Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Speaking on Iran's state TV, Rezaei also warned the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait that Tehran would not leave them alone after the war if they continued their current approach.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed President Donald Trump’s remarks about meeting Mojtaba Khamenei, saying the issue should be viewed “realistically” and “in the real world.”
Araghchi said security agencies had advised against increasing Khamenei’s public appearances because of security considerations.
He added that communication with Khamenei remains “continuous” and that his guidance is received “at the appropriate time” and followed accordingly.
“Mojtaba Khamenei is now the leader of the Islamic Republic and has a very close and influential role in the country’s developments,” Araghchi said. “He has full control of affairs.”
“The same level of obedience and loyalty that existed toward the martyred leader now exists exactly toward the new leader of the revolution,” he said.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would be open to meeting Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei if it helped secure a deal with Iran, adding that he would be “honored” and “respectful” despite admitting he is “not his favorite person.”
"I don't want to meet, but if I did meet, I'd be honored to meet him. I'd like to see if we make a deal, but if we make a deal, it's possible that I would meet him. I'd be okay with it," he told reporters at the White House.
"I haven't really heard too much about it. I didn't suggest it (a meeting), but some people have suggested it. If it happened, it would be happening. I'd be respectful. I would say I'm not his favorite person, but with that being said, he's probably a professional. In some circles he has a very good reputation, actually.
President Donald Trump said he considered sending US special operations forces to retrieve Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile, but rejected the idea because the mission would require weeks inside a war zone and risk becoming a “Jimmy Carter” moment.
"I didn't want to be Jimmy Carter. I didn't feel like being Jimmy Carter, so that topic we did. Well, we thought about it right at the very beginning, before you saw, before we did what we did, what before we destroyed their entire military. We thought about it, and I didn't want to be in a position where you had been here to get there," he told reporters at the White House.
"It's not like it's not like Venezuela, like you go in, you're there for a matter of minutes and you're out and everybody's waving goodbye as you, and you brought the cargo to be there for two weeks, you need massive equipment to airlift the equipment, and you're in a war zone."
"There was a time at the very beginning when we thought about doing that, because they would have not been watching, but they would have found out."
Three Iranian Kurdish opposition groups denied Israeli media reports that the Mossad and CIA had armed Kurdish fighters as part of a plan to help bring down Iran’s government.
Israeli outlet Ynet reported on Thursday that the Mossad armed Kurdish militias with weapons seized from Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon as part of a plan to facilitate regime change in Iran.
The report said the CIA was also involved in the plan, but that US President Donald Trump ultimately canceled it under pressure from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It said the Kurds received money and vehicles and were armed with light weapons, anti-tank missiles, grenades and mortar shells.
However, Abdullah Mohtadi, secretary-general of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, told Iran International that his party had not received any weapons from Israel or the United States.
Khalid Azizi, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, also told Iran International that his party had received no weapons from Israel or the United States, calling the reports “completely untrue.”
Reza Kaabi, secretary-general of the Komala Party of Toilers of Kurdistan, also denied receiving any weapons from Israel or the United States and said other Iranian Kurdish parties had not received any weapons from the two countries either.
The three parties are among Iranian Kurdish opposition groups that have long opposed the Islamic Republic.
Kurdish ground invasion plan
The Jerusalem Post separately reported on Thursday that, according to sources close to outgoing Mossad chief David Barnea, the United States was in many ways the originator of the idea of using Kurdish forces to open an internal ground front against Iran’s government.
The report said Israel had hoped to activate Kurdish forces with previous combat experience, including groups involved in US-backed operations against Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003.
It said Israeli officials believed such a plan could allow Washington to avoid deploying its own ground forces, while Israel would provide air cover and firepower against Iranian forces trying to block a Kurdish advance.
In April, when asked about reported plans to have Kurdish forces launch a ground operation against Iran, Trump said, “I'd rather have them stay away because I think they bring with them some problems and some difficulties. They bring death, I mean to themselves."
The Jerusalem Post said the plan was ultimately halted amid disagreements in Washington over whether it could succeed, as well as pressure from Erdogan, who opposed any Kurdish military operation that could strengthen Kurdish groups near Turkey.
The report said some Israeli officials were skeptical of the operation, while Mossad officials and sources close to Barnea argued that the agency had already prepared the ground for it.
The report also said Israel had begun striking Iranian government and Basij targets in Kurdish areas during the war, but that only ten percent of the targets intended to support a Kurdish ground operation were hit before that stage of the campaign was halted.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Barnea told Trump in a video call on February 12 that Iran’s government was unlikely to fall immediately, but that a war combined with Kurdish ground pressure and continued US financial, maritime, diplomatic and military pressure could create the conditions for regime change within a year or more.
The report said Barnea believed those plans would become far less relevant if Trump lifted economic sanctions or ended the US counter-blockade against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz before a final agreement on key disputes.
In that scenario, the report said, Iran’s government could regain access to funds, strengthen its position and reduce the internal pressure needed for any renewed regime-change effort.
Four Iranian-flagged oil tankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday for the first time since April 15 and the US blockade of Iranian ports, AFP reported, citing maritime tracking firm Kpler.
The tankers Hilda I, Amber, Silvia 1 and Happiness I were carrying a total of seven million barrels of oil, the report said.
The ships loaded their cargo in mid-April on Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil terminal, and crossed the strait on Monday with their AIS transponders turned off, the report said.