West Asia crisis: Iran orders troops to be ready for war with Israel 'but also avoid it if...,' says report

As Iran braces for a retaliatory strike from Israel, it has ordered its military to be ready for war but also try to avoid it. This development comesas Tehranseesthe decimation of its allies (Hezbollah and Hamas) in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, a report by The New York Times (NYT)on Thursday (Oct 24) said.

Israel has been weighing a retaliation for the massive missile attack by Iran on October 1. If Israel attacks Iran in any form, Iran will respond in the same format, Foreign MinisterAbbas Araghchi said earlier this week.

Speaking to The NYT, four Iranian officials said on Thursday that Supreme LeaderAyatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the military to devise multiple military plans for responding to an Israeli attack.

The options Tehran has presented

The above officials, who chose to remain anonymous, said that if the Israeli retaliation inflicted widespread damage and high casualties, Iran would retaliate.

But, if Israel limited its attack to a few military bases and warehouses storing missiles and drones, Tehran might well do nothing.

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Khamenei had directed that a response would be certain if Israel strikes oil and energy infrastructure or nuclear facilities, or if it assassinates senior officials, the officials told the publication.

Iran's responses under consideration

The Iranian officials also told The NYT that if Israel inflicted major harm, Tehran's options under consideration included- a barrage of up to 1,000 ballistic missiles; escalated attacks by Iranian proxy militant groups in the region; and disrupting the flow of global energy supplies and shipping moving through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

Tensions between Israel and Iran have grown since the Gaza war began on October 7 last year.

In April this year, Israel and Iranexchanged fire after Israel attacked an Iranian embassy compound in Syria.

In its strike on Israel earlier this month, Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles to retaliate for the Israeli assassinations of the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah.

How will Israel attack Iran?

Recently, leaked US intelligence documents detailed how Israel would attack Iran.

The documents indicated that the Israeli Air Force would use long-range Air-Launched Ballistic Missiles or ABLMs on Iran.These ABLMs were named in the documents as the Golden Horizon and Rocks systems.

The timing of Israel's possible strike onIran is still up in the air.

There is fear in the US thatthe Israel maystrike any time before the US presidential election on November 5.

(With inputs from agencies)