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Israel’s military chief on Tuesday warned Iran not to pursue any retaliation for Israel’s airstrikes near Tehran last week.
Israeli Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi | Image/Reuters
Israel on Tuesday warned Iran not to pursue any retaliation for Israel’s airstrikes near Tehran last week, which were themselves a response to a massive ballistic missile attack launched by Tehran on October 1.
“If Iran makes the mistake of launching another missile barrage at Israel, we will once again know how to reach Iran, with capabilities that we did not even use this time,” chief of the general staff Herzi Halevi told air and ground crews who took part in the strike on Iran against missile factories and other sites last Saturday.
“We will strike very, very hard at both their capabilities and locations that we set aside for now,” the Israel military chief said in a stern warning to Tehran against retaliation.
Halevi added that the reason Israel held back when it struck Iranian missile factories and other sites on Saturday was because “we may be required to do it again.”
“This event is not over; we are still in the midst of it. We could not have done this without the significant capabilities each and every one of you brings, and now we are looking ahead,” Halevi told the Israeli forces.
Last week, Israel struck military sites in Iran in retaliation for Tehran’s attacks on Israel earlier this month. Meanwhile, the Iranian forces said the Israeli attack targeted military centres in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan, and Ilam.
The Iranian media reported at least three waves of multiple explosions over more than two hours in the capital and at nearby military bases.
Iran Warns Israel Of Response
It comes after Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that Tehran said it will “use all available tools” to respond to Israel’s weekend attack on military targets in Iran.
Iran previously played down Israel’s air attack on Saturday, saying it caused only limited damage, while US President Joe Biden called for a halt to an escalation that has raised fears of an all-out conflagration in the Middle East.
Speaking at a weekly televised news conference, Baghaei said, “(Iran) will use all available tools to deliver a definite and effective response to the Zionist regime (Israel)”.
The nature of Iran’s response depends on the nature of the Israeli attack, Baghaei added, without elaborating.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that Iranian officials should determine how best to demonstrate Iran’s power to Israel, adding that the Isreli attack should “neither be downplayed nor exaggerated”.
