Tehran, Iran:

Iran on Saturday warned that “all Resistance Fronts”, a grouping of Iran and its regional allies, would confront Israel if it attacks Lebanon.

The comment from Iran’s mission to New York comes with fears of a wider regional war involving Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement. The two sides have engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire since the war in Gaza began.

Such exchanges have escalated this month, alongside bellicose rhetoric from both sides. Israel’s military said plans for a Lebanon offensive had been “approved and validated”, prompting Hezbollah to respond that none of Israel would be spared in a full-blown conflict.

In a post on social media platform X, the Iranian mission said it “deems as psychological warfare the Zionist regime’s propaganda about intending to attack Lebanon”.

But, it added, “should it embark on full-scale military aggression, an obliterating war will ensue. All options, incl. the full involvement of all Resistance Fronts, are on the table.”

The war in Gaza began in October when Hamas Palestinian operatives attacked southern Israel.

Iran, which backs Hamas, has praised the attack as a success but has denied any involvement.

Alongside Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel, Iran-backed rebels in Yemen have repeatedly struck commercial ships in the Red Sea area in what they say are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.

Iran also backs other groups in the region.

The Islamic republic has not recognised Israel since the 1979 revolution that toppled Iran’s United States-backed shah.

Fears of regional war also soared in April, after an air strike that levelled Iran’s consulate in Damascus and killed seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.

Iran hit back with an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel on April 13-14.

Iran’s state media later reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan as US media quoted American officials saying Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes on its arch-rival.

Tehran downplayed the reported Israeli raid.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Stockholm:

Iran is recruiting members of Swedish criminal gangs, some of them children, as proxies to commit “acts of violence” against Israel and other states and groups in Sweden that Tehran considers a threat, Sweden’s intelligence agency said Thursday.

The announcement came two weeks after nighttime gunfire was reported outside Israel’s embassy in Stockholm and three months after police found an unexploded grenade lying on the grounds of the Israeli compound.

“The Swedish Security Police notes that the Iranian regime is using criminal networks in Sweden to carry out acts of violence against other states, groups or people in Sweden that it considers a threat,” the intelligence service, commonly known as Sapo, said in a statement.

It cited in particular “Israeli and Jewish interests, targets and operations in Sweden”.

“Iran has previously used violence in other countries in Europe in a bid to silence critical voices and perceived threats against its regime,” it said.

“Our assessment is that this is a regional conflict that has spread globally and now also includes Sweden as an arena for this conflict,” the head of Sapo’s counterintelligence service Daniel Stenling told a press conference.

He said “very young individuals, even children, can be used to carry out Iranian activities that threaten security in Sweden”.

The Scandinavian country has struggled to contain surging gang violence in recent years, with shootings and bombings now weekly occurrences across the country.

The gang violence was originally linked to control over the drugs market.

Sapo said it was collaborating with the police, military and international allies “to meet the threat from Iran”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)