Iran’s new president is battling against the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in an attempt to prevent all-out war with Israel, The Telegraph has learned.
Tehran’s authorities are divided over how to respond to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader, in the Iranian capital on July 31.
Top generals within the IRGC are insisting on a direct strike on Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities, focusing on military bases to avoid civilian casualties.
But Masoud Pezeshkian, the newly elected president and a comparative moderate who defeated the IRGC’s candidate in elections last month, has suggested targeting secret Israeli bases in Iran’s neighbouring countries.
Iran has previously targeted what it refers to as “spy bases” of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, in Iraqi Kurdistan.