Iran warned the United States last month that it would respond to a full-scale Israeli assault on the Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, where Iranian military personnel are reportedly positioned together with Hezbollah terrorists, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing three officials familiar with the message.
According to the officials, Tehran's warning reflected its involvement in the fighting in southern Lebanon and its readiness to act if Israel launches a broad operation against the strategic ridge.
Lebanese security sources said Hezbollah is believed to have constructed an underground command center and weapons storage facilities inside Ali al-Taher, which overlooks southeastern Lebanon and has become a focal point in the fighting.
Hezbollah has publicly claimed control of the ridge and said it would resist an Israeli advance. The organization has acknowledged the existence of a "facility" at the site without providing further details.
The IDF has taken control of areas south of Ali al-Taher and has described the ridge as one of its main operational priorities.
The three officials cited in the report said Iran warned that a major Israeli offensive against the ridge would lead to a significant Iranian attack.
Hezbollah declined to confirm whether Iranian forces are stationed at Ali al-Taher. Asked about the reported Iranian warning and whether Washington had pressed Israel not to attack the ridge, a White House official said the report was "not accurate."
Iran's permanent mission in Geneva, the US Defense Department and Oman's Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment. The IDF also declined to comment.
Two of the officials said Iran's message was conveyed through Oman. They said more than a dozen members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, including at least two senior officers, were present alongside Hezbollah fighters.
A third official with direct knowledge of the warning said it was delivered around the middle of August and claimed Israel subsequently postponed an assault on Ali al-Taher following US pressure.
Hezbollah's media office neither confirmed nor denied that Iran had issued the warning. It said such a message would be a "natural conclusion," arguing that Iran regards Israeli territorial expansion in southern Lebanon as a violation of the Islamabad Agreement, the June US-Iran memorandum of understanding that included a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Iran launched missiles toward Israel in early June in retaliation for Israeli attacks on Hezbollah near Beirut.
Despite the June ceasefire, the IDF has said Hezbollah remains active near Ali al-Taher and has twice launched explosive drones toward Israeli troops in the area during the past week.
In July, the IDF said it struck a Hezbollah terrorist near an entrance to the underground complex and said it would prevent the organization from operating in the area or threatening Israeli forces.
An Israeli military official said in June that Hezbollah terrorists trapped underground were without food and water. Maariv reported, citing a military source, that the IDF assesses there are no IRGC personnel at Ali al-Taher and that some Hezbollah terrorists have died after being deprived of food and water.
The third official cited in the report said Israel is attempting to force Hezbollah and IRGC personnel out of the position by maintaining a siege and intercepting attempts to deliver food and water by drone.
Hezbollah's media office said Israeli pressure over the past month appeared intended to make the underground facility impossible to inhabit, adding that the absence of a large-scale assault could indicate that warnings had been conveyed through several countries.
A Lebanese source briefed by Hezbollah said the organization's fighters can still reach their positions from the northern side of the ridge.
The military situation at Ali al-Taher could not be independently confirmed. Israel has included the area within a security zone held by Israeli forces and closed to Lebanese access.
A Lebanese source and a senior Lebanese security official said an Israeli operation to seize the ridge could still take place in the coming weeks.
Hezbollah warned that a large-scale Israeli assault on Ali al-Taher would mark a return to full-scale war and could lead to missile fire toward communities in northern Israel.