Israel Claims Intel Shows Possible Iran Attack Using 'Long-Range Missiles or Drones'
05:49 GMT 05.04.2024 (Updated: 11:17 GMT 24.06.2024)
© AFP 2023 / ATTA KENAREA billboard displays a portrait of slain Iran's Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi with a slogan in Hebrew saying, "You will be punished", on April 3, 2024 at Palestine Square in Tehran, after he was killed in a strike at the consular annex of the Iranian embassy in Damascus.
© AFP 2023 / ATTA KENARE
Subscribe
Iranian officials have warned Tel Aviv that Tehran has the right to take action in response to Israel's missile strike on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus that killed 16 people, among them IRGC Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior Revolutionary Guard Quds Force commander advising the Syrian military in its counterterrorism operations.
Israeli officials claim they have in their possession intelligence indicating that Iran could attack the country from its territory using “long-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles or drones,” Axios reported.
The anticipated escalation scenario would be retaliation for the recent Israeli targeting of the Iranian Embassy compound in Damascus in a missile strike, claimed officials in Tel Aviv claimed, as cited by the outlet.
The purported threat is believed to have been discussed in detail during a phone conversation between Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Wednesday. The two sides reportedly deliberated over how best to prepare for possible Iranian retaliation.
If Iran were to launch such an attack from its soil against Israel, it would "draw a strong response from Israel and take the current conflict to another level," Israeli officials were cited as saying.
Currently, the Israel Defense Forces are on high alert, officials added, with all weekend leave suspended for combat soldiers.
"In accordance with the situational assessment, it has been decided that leave will be temporarily paused for all IDF (Israel Defense Forces) combat units. The IDF is at war and the deployment of forces is under continuous assessment according to requirements,” the military said in a statement.
To date, there has not been any official comment on the Axios report from either US officials, or the Israeli side
How Iran can avoid falling into Netanyahu’s trap as Israel escalates ‘shadow war’
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) April 4, 2024
“Israel wants Iran to fire missiles into Israeli towns, causing massive carnage. Then it would feel free to use its US 2,000 pound bunker buster bombs on Iran’s nuclear facilities and cities and… pic.twitter.com/DnTj4Wo2Pj
The Syrian Ministry of Defense reported an airstrike by the Israeli Air Force on the General Consulate of Iran in Damascus on April 1, which killed at least 11 people. The death toll includes seven officers of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, among them General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the commander of the IRGC's Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, and his deputy Mohammad Hadi Hajizadeh.
Zahedi was the most senior IRGC officer to be killed since the US assassinated Qassem Soleimani in 2020. The Israeli-targeted consulate building, which includes the ambassador’s residence and is located next to Tehran's Embassy, is considered sovereign Iranian territory.
In the wake of the strike, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned that "the Zionist regime [Israel] must bear in mind that it won’t be able to achieve its sinister objectives with such inhumane measures" and that Tehran will respond in kind.
Iran has the right to take action in response to the Israeli attack on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus, the Iranian mission to the UN said.
“The aggressor Zionist regime bears full responsibility for its consequences and the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its legitimate and inherent right under international law and the United Nations Charter to take a decisive response to such reprehensible acts,” its statement read.
Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said the aggression "violated all diplomatic norms and international treaties."
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Israel of impending retaliation for the aggression against the Iranian Embassy compound in Syria, indicating in a post on X that “with God’s help we will make the Zionists repent of their crime of aggression against the Iranian consulate.”
For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Moscow "strongly" condemns the attack on the Iranian consular mission in Syria, calling it absolutely "unacceptable."