By Maya Gebeily
BEIRUT, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Iran has warned the United States that it would respond forcefully to an Israeli offensive on a mountainous ridge in southern Lebanon where Iranian military personnel are holed up alongside Hezbollah fighters, three officials briefed on the message told Reuters.
The message, delivered last month, highlights Iran's continued direct involvement in the ground fighting in southern Lebanon and its readiness to retaliate against Israeli attacks there as the regional
war enters its seventh month.
Hezbollah is believed to have built an underground command center and weapons stores within the Ali al-Taher ridge, which has a commanding view of southeastern Lebanon, according to Lebanese security sources, and has become one of the most contested pieces of ground in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
Hezbollah has said in public statements that it controls the hill and will confront any Israeli advances. Its officials have referred to a "facility" there, but have declined to provide details.
The Israeli military has occupied swathes of territory to Ali al-Taher's south and has identified the ridge as one of its "primary operational focuses" in public statements.
In its message to Washington, Tehran threatened that any full-fledged Israeli offensive on the ridge would be met with a large-scale Iranian attack, said the three officials in the region, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Hezbollah declined to comment on whether Iranian forces were present in Ali al-Taher. In response to Reuters questions about the message, or whether the U.S. had put pressure on Israel not to attack Ali al-Taher, a White House official said, "this is not accurate." There was no immediate comment from Iran's permanent mission in Geneva, the U.S. Defense Department, or Oman's foreign ministry. The Israeli military declined to comment.
IRGC FORCES HOLED UP, OFFICIALS SAY
Two of the officials said the message was delivered via Oman, which has played a mediating role. Those two regional officials, briefed by Tehran, said over a dozen members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, including at least two senior officers, were with Hezbollah fighters.
The third source, a foreign official with direct knowledge of the message, said it was delivered around mid-August and that as a result of U.S. pressure, Israel had put off storming Ali al-Taher.
Contacted by Reuters, Hezbollah's media office neither confirmed nor denied Iran's message but said it was a "natural conclusion" that such a warning would have been sent about the ridge.
"Iran considers any Israeli move on the ground in southern Lebanon, especially territorial expansion, a major violation of the Islamabad Agreement," Hezbollah's media office said, referring to the June U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding that included a Lebanon ceasefire.
Iran fired missiles towards Israel in early June in retaliation for attacks on Hezbollah on the Lebanese capital's outskirts.
ISRAEL SEEKS TO BESIEGE HEZBOLLAH FIGHTERS
Despite a ceasefire announced in June, the Israeli military has said Hezbollah is still operating around the ridge and twice over the last week launched explosive drones towards Israeli troops near the ridge.
In July, it said it had launched an air strike on a Hezbollah fighter near an access shaft to the underground site at Ali al-Taher and vowed not to allow Hezbollah to operate in the area or pose a threat to Israeli soldiers.
An Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters in June that Hezbollah fighters were stuck underground without food or water. Israeli newspaper Maariv, citing a military source, said on Thursday that the Israeli military assessed there were no IRGC forces in Ali al-Taher and that some Hezbollah fighters had died without food and water.
The third official said Israel's military was trying to smoke out Hezbollah and IRGC personnel by besieging them, shooting down attempted drone deliveries of food and water to the ridge.
"What we have seen over the past month is Israeli pressure to besiege Ali al-Taher in order to impose a reality within this facility that renders it uninhabitable. This approach, and the absence of a large-scale attack, means that it is possible a message was conveyed through several countries -- this is a natural conclusion," Hezbollah's media office told Reuters.
HEZBOLLAH THREATENS RETALIATION
A Lebanese source briefed by Hezbollah said the group's fighters can still access their positions through the ridge's northern side.
Reuters could not independently confirm the military situation at Ali al-Taher, which Israel's military has included in a self-declared security zone occupied by its troops and off-limits to Lebanese.
Despite Iran's warning, the Lebanese source and a senior Lebanese security official said an Israeli military operation to capture the ridge was still possible in the coming weeks.
Hezbollah said any large-scale attack on Ali al-Taher would mean a return to full-blown war, and could see missiles landing on northern Israeli communities.
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Additional reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva and Emily Rose in Jerusalem, Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
