Last week, the Iranian military conducted a parade through the capital of Tehran, displaying a wide variety of tanks, warplanes, and missiles.
According to Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Division, one of those missiles is capable of striking Israel, roughly 764 miles away.
"The Zionist regime is our biggest target," he said, according to the Jerusalem Post.
"We do not need missiles with a range of over 2,000 kilometers. The longest range required for [Iran’s] missiles is the [Israeli] occupied lands."
Last week, Hajizadeh claimed that one of the missiles on display, the Zolfaghar, had a range of roughly 466 miles. That missile was adorned with a banner that warned against Israeli provocations.
"If the leaders of the Zionist regime make one false move, the Islamic republic will turn Tel Aviv and Haifa to dust," the banner said.
According to General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Tehran is concerned with the recently agreed-upon military aid deal between the US and Israel.
"The recent decision of the American criminals to give military aid to the usurper Zionist regime reinforces our determination to increase our defense capabilities," Bagheri said, according to the Times of Israel.
Over the next ten years, Washington will supply its ally with a record $38 billion in military aid.
"The ultimate objective of the United States, the Zionist regime and those who support terrorist groups…is to destroy the infrastructure of Syria and Iraq in favor [of Israel]," Begheri added.
Tensions have also been inflamed by recent standoffs between the Iran Revolutionary Guard and US Navy ships in the Persian Gulf.
"We tell the Americans that it’s better that the capital and wealth of the American people should not be wasted on their inappropriate and detrimental presence in the Persian Gulf," said Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Revolutionary Guard, according to the Jerusalem Post.
