Israel said on Wednesday that anyone attempting to attack Iran “will be met with strong defenses” after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei vowed to retaliate against Israel over the attack on its Syrian consulate earlier this month. I warned you.
“We know how to respond quickly and decisively to anyone who attacks our territory, no matter where in the Middle East,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said. “Over the years, we have been known to have surprises in store for our enemies.”
Israeli Defense Minister Job Gallant (Jacqueline Martin/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz issued a similar warning on Wednesday, saying his military would attack Iran directly if the Islamic Republic launched an attack against Israel from its territory.
“If Iran attacks from its own territory, Israel will respond by attacking inside Iran,” Katz said in a post on X, in both Farsi and Hebrew.
Khamenei, speaking at a prayer ceremony marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, said the April 1 attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus was similar to an attack on Iranian territory.
Iran’s foreign minister accuses Israel of giving the ‘green light’ to attack Syrian consulate
The airstrike killed 12 people, including General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who led Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria until 2016.
On April 2nd, the scene of a missile attack targeting the general consulate of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria. (Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua via Getty Images)
“When they attacked our consulate area, it was like attacking our territory,” Khamenei said in remarks broadcast by Iranian state television. “Evil regimes must and will be punished.”
Iranian leader issues four threatening words to Israel, blames US and West for ‘disaster’ in Gaza
Israel has denied involvement but is bracing for an Iranian response to the attack, a major escalation in a long shadow war. The United States and its allies have issued similar warnings about the possibility of retaliatory attacks by Iran.
A report from Iran’s state-run Mehr News Agency that airspace above Tehran was closed for “military training” was briefly published in X earlier Wednesday. The report was later deleted and authorities denied publishing it, Reuters said.
Cityscape of Tehran, Iran. (Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)
The escalation of words came days after the war between Israel and Hamas entered its seventh month. The Israeli military continues to battle Hamas after an Iranian-backed terrorist group attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.
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Israel is responsible for the deaths of more than 33,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and enemy fighters. Israel disputes these figures.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
