The representative of Iran’s supreme leader to the Quds Force – a special forces unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) – warned on Thursday that “Iran can destroy Israel.”
Cleric Ali Shirazi also called on Israel to avoid making "stupid mistakes if it wants to continue its treacherous existence."
"If Israel wants to continue its treacherous existence… it should avoid stupid measures. If they give excuses to Iran, Tel Aviv and Haifa [two major cities in Israel] will be destroyed. Iran can destroy Israel," Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative to the Quds force, cleric Ali Shirazi, told the Fars news agency on April 11.
Two Israeli F-16 warplanes targeted the T-4 airbase in Syria's Homs province earlier this month, according to Russia's Ministry of Defense.
Around half of the missiles fired by the warplanes were intercepted by Syrian air defenses before they reached their targets, but the remaining missiles killed seven Iranian military personnel, prompting condemnation from Tehran and Damascus.
READ MORE: Iran Vows to Stand With Damascus Against US and Israeli 'Foreign Aggression'
Iran is one of a few remaining countries which refuse to recognize the state of Israel, and has been accused of attempting to develop nuclear weapons to threaten and potentially attack Israel with.
The Islamic Republic has also been criticized for providing advanced armaments to the Hezbollah resistance group in Lebanon, which Israel and a number of Western nations consider to be a terrorist organization.
Hezbollah troops and advisors from the IRGC were deployed to Syria in the infant years of the conflict to fight hardline Islamist militants, including the *Daesh terror group, but Israel is now accusing them of setting up permanent military bases in the country which may be used to attack Israel.
READ MORE: Israel Would Not Let Iran Advance Forces Toward Its Border — Analyst
*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia.