Iran: senior IRGC officer vows major response to Israeli attack

A senior officer in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened Israel yesterday with major strikes in the coming days in retaliation for the occupation state’s attack against Iranian military sites which killed four soldiers at the weekend, Iranian media outlets have reported.

“The Zionist entity will receive more deadly strikes in the coming days,” the Sabereen news agency quoted General Mohammad Reza Naqdi as saying. “The Zionists will be surprised with new actions, initiatives and innovations.”

Earlier on Monday, the Commander of the IRGC, Major General Hossein Salami, threatened Israel with “bitter consequences” for its attack on Iranian territory. He insisted that the Israeli occupation regime failed to achieve its “ominous goals due to the readiness of Iran’s air defence systems.”

Tehran insists on its right to respond to the Israeli attack carried out last Saturday. President Masoud Pezeshkian told a cabinet meeting on Monday that, “Iran does not seek war, but will defend the people and the homeland, and will make an appropriate response to the [Israeli] aggression.”

The Israeli attack came after Iran launched more than 200 ballistic missiles in early October against Israel in response to the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, IRGC Commander Abbas Nilforoushan and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Haniyeh was killed while in Tehran to attend Pezeshkian’s inauguration as president.

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