Israel stares down ‘ring of fire’ as Iran pledges retaliation

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Security officials in Israel and the U.S. have been scrambling for days to bolster the Jewish state’s defenses following the back-to-back assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas terror leaders last week.

Iran on Monday gave credence to security concerns after it claimed stability in the region could only be achieved by "punishing" Israel for its alleged assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Though an attack on Israel would only mark the second time Iran has directly hit it, despite years of aggressive rhetoric and force posture, it plays in to Tehran’s long-held "ring of fire" strategy to encircle Israel with militant forces and engage in hostilities against the Jewish state.

"The Ring of Fire strategy… is not designed to be theoretical. It's how the regime fights its ‘death by a thousand cuts’ strategy against Israel," Behnam Ben Taleblu, Iran expert and senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told Fox News Digital.

ISRAELIS REMAIN CALM AND CARRY ON IN FACE OF IRANIAN THREAT

Taleblu pointed to how nearly every militant and terrorist organization in the area surrounding Israel is not only backed by Iran but has access to an array of Iranian armaments, including rockets, mortars, drones, cruise missiles and, in some cases, ballistic missiles.

"What the regime is likely to try to do," Ben Taleblu continued, "is to go for a