WarSclerotic

The threat against Israeli and Jewish targets in North America by Iran is on the rise, ABC news reported Friday, after the Iranian regime vocalized again its intention to aid in the fight against the “Zionist regime” in the face of Western sanctions.

Guarded and “soft sites,” such as synagogues, community centers and schools, are the primary targets by Iran, a letter circulated by the Consul General for Mid-Atlantic States and obtained by ABC news claimed.

“We predict that the threat on our sites around the world will increase,” the letter stated.

Police and intelligence officials have stepped up monitoring Israeli government buildings and Jewish centers in cities across the US and Canada, telling local officials to remain wary of the potential threat from Iran, such as the bombing of an Argentine community center in 1984 that killed 85 people.

This development has been ongoing for a number of weeks, ABC reported.

The report came after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamanei said on Friday he had “no fear of saying that we will back and help any nation or group that wants to confront and fight against the Zionist regime (Israel).”

He also stated that the Islamic Republic would not yield to international pressure to abandon its nuclear course, threatening retaliation for sanctions aimed at Iran’s oil exports.

His comments came a day after Israel’s top political and military leadership issued a series of warningsto the Islamic Republic in some of the most candid comments on the nuclear threat in years.Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said there was a consensus among many nations today that if diplomacy and sanctions failed to stop Iran, a military strike should be launched.

“If sanctions don’t achieve the desired goal of stopping [Iran’s] military nuclear program, there will be a need to consider taking action,” he declared.

Israel’s increased threats came as The Washington Post reported that US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta believes Israel will attack Iran in April, May or June.

According to the report, written by the paper’s senior opinion writer David Ignatius, Panetta is concerned that Israel will attack before Iran enters the so-called “immunity zone” when its nuclear facilities will be heavily fortified and a military strike will no longer succeed.

Iran has implicated the Israeli spy agency in the murder of Iranian nuclear scientists working on Iran’s controversial nuclear program, as well as a number of mysterious explosions that rocked Iranian nuclear and military facilities last year.

While Israel denies involvement, some officials have welcomed the developments in light of Iran’s refusal to stop nuclear development, which the Islamic Republic claims is for peaceful purposes.

Reuters and Yaakov Katz contributed to this report.