World
Iran military heads vow 'crushing' response to Israel as UN atomic chief says nuke sites shouldn't be attacked
Tensions between Iran and Israel remain heightened as Tehran’s military heads on Thursday once again pledged a crushing response to Jerusalem’s strikes last month, and the U.N.’s atomic watchdog is scrambling to prevent a nuclear escalation.
Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi traveled to Iran this week to hold high level meetings with Iranian officials in a move to hold Tehran accountable for prior nuclear safeguarding pledges and to get clarity on where Iran’s nuclear program stands.
However, even as Tehran continues to develop its nuclear program despite international attempts to stall it, Grossi also issued a warning message to Israel, stating clearly that Iran’s “nuclear installations should not be attacked.”
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi, left, meets with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran, Iran, on May 6, 2024. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)
UN WATCHDOG WARNS TIME TO ‘MANEUVER’ ON IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM IS SHRINKING: REPORT
Grossi’s comments came during a news conference Thursday and just three days after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday said that Iran was “more exposed than ever [for] strikes on its nuclear facilities.”
“We have the opportunity to achieve our most important goal – to thwart and eliminate the existential threat to the State of Israel,” he added.
The White House has repeatedly warned Israel to not go after Iran’s nuclear sites, though as the Biden administration prepares to leave come January, when President-elect Donald Trump retakes the Oval Office, the U.S. official stance on Israeli strike options could change.
Grossi’s trip to Iran comes at a pivotal time for geopolitics as the U.S. under the Trump administration is expected to take a more hardline approach against Iran, though it remains unclear how Washington’s policies in the region could change.
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies has analyzed where Iran’s nuclear infrastructure is located as Israel mulls retaliatory attack. (Image provided by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies)
Iran appears undeterred by Trump’s or Israel’s threats, and its top government and military officials have repeatedly said Tehran will issue a retaliatory blow following Israel’s attacks in late October.
IRAN THREATENS TO USE MORE POWERFUL WARHEADS AGAINST ISRAEL IN NEXT ATTACK: REPORT
In a Thursday meeting with family members of Major Sajjad Mansouri – who was reportedly killed during the Oct. 26 Israeli strikes – Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Army Major General Seyyed Abdolrahim Mousavi promised a “crushing” blow to Israel.
“We will determine the time and manner of our response. There will be no hesitation when the time comes, and our reply will surely be crushing,” he said according to Tehran-based news outlet Iran Front Page News, echoing threats issued by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier this month when he said Tehran would issue a “crushing response.”
Similarly, Deputy Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Ali Fadavi on Thursday said, “The entire world will bear witness as the complete downfall of the Zionist regime fulfills the triumph of righteousness over falsehood.”
“This is a divine promise: the party of God shall prevail, and the party of evil shall face defeat,” he added, according to the Iran International news outlet.
Smoke billows over Beirut’s southern suburbs after an Israeli strike amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon, on Nov. 14, 2024. (REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani)
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Israel has ramped up its attacks against Iran-backed proxies like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in Syria.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) struck militant positions in the capital cities of Beirut and Damascus on Thursday, hitting terrorist infrastructure sites and command centers, according to the IDF.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said six people had been killed and 15 wounded in the Israeli airstrike that hit a southern Beirut apartment building, reported Haaretz.
Residents in Beirut were allegedly advised to evacuate ahead of the strikes, though it is unclear how many of the causalities were terrorists or civilians.
Another 15 were reportedly killed in Damascus while 16 more were injured in the strikes.
People carry their luggage as they cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block the Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
Senior Advisor to Khamenei Ali Larijani reportedly visited Damascus on Thursday and is scheduled to head to Lebanon as the head of a high-ranking delegation, according to an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, reported state-owned Islamic Republic News Agency.
The spokesperson reportedly said Larijani “would meet with high-ranking Syrian officials, including the prime minister and the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, to discuss the most recent development of the region.”
It remains unclear if he was in Damascus or Beirut at the time of the strikes.
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By Jiawei Wang
March 9, 2026
Private security group helps people evacuate the Middle East
A global security firm, Global Guardian, has evacuated more than 4,000 people from the Middle East since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran last weekend. FOX takes a look at how Global Guardian is executing evacuations out of the Middle East.
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MCLEAN, Va. – As Americans are stranded in the Middle East amid the U.S. and Israel war with Iran, government and private agencies are working around the clock to conduct evacuations.
In addition to the U.S. Department of State’s 24/7 task force aimed at evacuating Americans, private security firm Global Guardian is also working around the clock to complete the same mission.
As of Friday, Global Guardian has evacuated more than 4,000 people from the Middle East, according to its CEO and President, Dale Robert Buckner.
While operations and logistics teams sit in an office building in northern Virginia, the firm has personnel in more than 140 countries, allowing Global Guardian access to nearly every corner of the world for emergency response or evacuations.
Global Guardian receiving calls for evacuations in the Middle East.
“We provide medical evac services, we provide kidnap, ransom, extortion negotiation payment if someone is kidnapped or extorted,” Buckner said. “We’re providing about 300 missions a month of executive protection travel, in about 84 countries a month.”
The private security firm also conducts camera surveillance of residences and commercial property and has cyber analysts monitoring mobile devices.
After the U.S. and Israel struck Iran in a joint attack last weekend, the firm has been coordinating multiple emergency response evacuations — but this isn’t the first time it has assisted Americans out of a crisis zone.
“That means getting people out of Puerto Vallarta a week ago, and Jalisco, Mexico. That means getting people out of Asheville, North Carolina when it got wiped out by a hurricane,” Buckner said.
STATE DEPARTMENT GIVES UPDATES ON AMERICANS FLEEING MIDDLE EAST
Logistically, getting tourists out of a war zone and back to safety is a process, but the firm works fast, completing their first border crossing within the first six hours of the missile strikes.
Immediately, the firm received a call from a pair of students studying abroad, Deputy Vice President of Operations Colin O’Brien told Fox News. He said they were trying to leave Dubai.
“Within about four and a half hours from the phone call, we had our teams in motion to go pick these people up and it was two college-aged women,” said O’Brien.
Global Guardian security firm is working around the clock to execute emergency evacuations in the Middle East.
“Put them in the car, we were then able to move from the Omani border and by eight hours we were at the border. Work through the border checkpoint to a hotel in Muscat, where we could stop and give them a short rest while we arrange their transportation home,” he says.
The group said it remains active year-round to ensure evacuation plans are in place before disasters strike.
“There’s a narrative of, here’s the pickup point, here’s the key crossing site,” Buckner said. “This is what you’re gonna need from a paperwork standpoint, legally. And then we’re gonna put you in a hotel or straight onto a commercial flight. Most likely, at this point in the war, we’re gonna put you on a private charter.”
WHAT’S NEXT IN OPERATION EPIC FURY
Buckner said most of these missions happening in the region are ground movement, done by locals. He says in the 140 countries the firm is in, they have ground teams working year-round. Consistently training year-round.
“We’re communicating, we’re coordinating, we’re executing. Executive protection agents, armed agents, armed vehicles, large-scale event support with medical and security personnel,” he said, describing the firm’s standard operating capabilities.
“We’re coordinating whether the firm needs drivers. From Dubai to Oman, Israel to either Oman, Jordan or Egypt. Out of Bahrain into Saudi Arabia,” Buckner said.
While the firm is coordinating with the State Department, it said it has not yet conducted a flight mission on behalf of the department.
Security firm analysts create plans to evacuate Americans.
Global Guardian offers these services through what it calls a “Duty of Care Membership,” which Buckner said costs $15,000 per year for a family of five.
“You are going to sign a contract — whether it’s a family, a family office or typically a large corporate logo. Then we become, at your beck and call,” Buckner said, describing the emergency response services included in the agreement.
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For Americans currently stuck in the Middle East, Buckner said the cost of evacuation using ground and air resources varies depending on the situation and location.
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