The Israeli military is close to “full operational control” of northern Gaza in the war against Hamas, officials said

A fiery article in the revolutionary newspaper of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran earlier this month threatened the United States and its assets, as well as its allies, in the Middle East.

According to a December 11 article titled “Maximum Pressure with a Balance of Terror and Fear,” Kayhan newspaper wrote: “Today, in compliance with Imam [Khomeini’s] According to this school of thought, the only way to confront America's aggressive policy, and to deter and isolate the Zionist regime, is to exert maximum pressure through a “balance of terror and fear.”

The Islamic Republic tends not to refer to the Jewish state as Israel, but rather to use the phrase “Zionist regime” in a derogatory sense for the only democracy in the Middle East.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Mousavi Khomeini was the first supreme leader of the Islamic Republic after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Ali Khamenei, the current supreme leader of the theocratic regime in Iran, uses Kayhan newspaper to express his views and thinking. The Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) was the first to locate the Kayhan newspaper article and translate it from Persian to English.

Iranian proxies have intensified their attacks on US forces since Hamas, a strategic partner of Tehran, invaded Israel and killed 1,200 people, including more than 30 Americans in southern Israel.

Kayhan newspaper bragged in its article that Khomeini had developed a strategy of “terror and fear” to fight the West and urged attacks on American ships in the Persian Gulf. According to Kayhan newspaper, Iran “has now established a strong, effective and viable means of deterrence in the Persian Gulf and in international waters, and has imposed its will on the Americans.”

A US State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital: “Calls for terror and fear are despicable and dangerous. The United States does not seek conflict with Iran, but as the Biden administration has demonstrated, the United States will do what is necessary to defend itself.” Its people and interests are protected from threats emanating from Iran.”

The spokesman added: “We have made clear in public and private messages to Iran that it should not escalate or expand the conflict – or take advantage of the current situation. Our enhanced presence in the region, including the arrival of two aircraft carrier groups – this is a clear message to any actor in the region – Whether it is a nation-state or otherwise – that this is not the time to exploit the conflict between Israel and Hamas to expand this conflict.