Iran Warned US Over Lebanon Ridge, Sources Say

Iran has warned the United States it would respond forcefully to an Israeli offensive on a mountainous ridge in southern Lebanon — according to three officials briefed on the message who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The claim is unconfirmed. Reuters correspondent Maya Gebeily reported it from Beirut on Thursday, Sept. 3; the Jerusalem Post and the Times of Israel followed with their own write-ups the same morning.

A White House official, asked by Reuters about the message and about whether Washington had pressed Israel not to attack, said: "this is not accurate." Iran's permanent mission in Geneva, the US Defense Department and Oman's foreign ministry gave no immediate comment. The Israeli military declined to comment.

The disputed ground is the Ali al-Taher ridge, where Israel says Hezbollah runs an underground command center — and where, per the same anonymous officials, Iranian Revolutionary Guard personnel are holed up alongside Hezbollah fighters.

What the sources actually say

Two of the three officials told Reuters the warning was delivered through Oman, which has acted as a mediator. Those two, briefed by Tehran, said more than a dozen members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, including at least two senior officers, were on the ridge with Hezbollah.

The third source, described by Reuters as a foreign official with direct knowledge, said the message landed around mid-August and that US pressure led Israel to put off storming the ridge.

Reuters says it could not independently confirm the military situation at Ali al-Taher, which Israel has folded into a self-declared security zone held by its troops and closed to Lebanese.

Israel's own read is different. The Israeli newspaper Maariv, citing a military source, reported Thursday that the Israeli military assesses there are no IRGC forces at Ali al-Taher and that some Hezbollah fighters have died there without food and water.