IRAN: IRGC Head-Israel Unlikely To Make 'Significant Move'
The commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Mohammad Ali Jafari has said that Israel may carry out "a limited and small attack" on Iran, but that it "is not likely to make a significant move" against Tehran reports Iranian outlet SNN. The IRCG head's comments come a day after plans purporting to show Israel's possible retaliation to the 1 Oct Iranian missile barrage were leaked online. The Telegraph reports that the documents "include interpretations of satellite imagery that appear to have been prepared recently by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and analyse information gathered by US spy satellites and the National Security Agency. They were marked “top secret”, dated Oct 15 and 16 and were circulated on Friday night on the Telegram messaging app."
- White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters on 21 Oct "We’re deeply concerned, and the president remains deeply concerned, about any leakage of classified information into the public domain. That’s not supposed to happen, and it’s unacceptable when it does,”
- The region has been in a state of heightened tensions following the 1 Oct barrage, with an Israeli response widely expected. It is the nature of the response that will be watched, with a strike on military targets seen as less escalatory, while an air or missile strike on nuclear sites would risk a wider conflagration.