The Iranian leadership decided to postpone a third direct attack on Israel following last week’s U.S. presidential election, won by Republican candidate Donald Trump, officials in Jerusalem familiar with the matter told Israel Hayom on Thursday.
The Israeli report came a day after Iranian sources told Sky News that Trump’s impending return to the White House led the Tehran regime to delay the attack.
According to Israel Hayom, the Islamic Republic shelved its plans in the hope of kick-starting negotiations with the Trump administration, which will take charge at noon on Jan. 20.
The Israeli sources also said that the incoming administration is drafting plans to bring down the Islamist regime, which has ruled Iran for more than four decades. Tehran’s decision to refrain from attacking Israel at this time was reportedly made to head off this scenario.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters on Wednesday that communication channels with Washington “still exist.”
“We have differences with the Americans, which are sometimes very fundamental and central and may not be resolved, but we must manage them to reduce their costs and decrease the tensions,” Araghchi said.
On Oct. 1, Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel, in the second-ever direct attack by Tehran against the Jewish state. The Israel Defense Forces, with assistance from the U.S., downed most of the missiles, with the sole casualty of the attack being a Palestinian man from Gaza who was struck by falling missile debris near Jericho.
In response, on Oct. 26, Israeli jets hit 20 sites in Iran in waves, reportedly knocking out air defenses and significantly setting back the country’s missile production industry. The Israeli strikes also destroyed radar systems required to guide the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missiles.
Initially, Tehran downplayed the impact of the strikes, though Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly told his associates later that the scope of Jerusalem’s retaliation was “too large to ignore.”
