Iranian state media publishes graphic of missiles it claims can hit Israel, as it promises to avenge 7 IRGC personnel killed in Syria airstrike it blames on Jewish state
An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader on Sunday appeared to threaten an attack on Israeli embassies, days after a strike on an Iranian consular building in Damascus that Tehran blamed on Israel killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“The embassies of the Zionist regime are no longer safe,” Yahya Rahim Safavi, senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency, adding that Tehran viewed confrontation with Israel as a “legitimate and legal right.”
The news agency also published a graphic that it claims showcases nine types of Iranian missiles it says are capable of hitting Israel.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Sunday that Israel is ready to respond to any attack by the Islamic Republic, stating that Israel has “completed preparations for a response against any scenario that would develop against Iran.”
The remark was made following an assessment Gallant held with the chief of the IDF’s Operations Directorate, Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk, and the chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, at the Defense Ministry in the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Iran has threatened a response to the alleged assassination by Israel of its top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander in Syria, along with six other IRGC officers in an airstrike last week on the Syrian capital.
ISNA has published an infographic of 9 Iranian-made missiles that it says are capable of hitting Israel. pic.twitter.com/EK1IjNaUJA
— Saeed Azimi (@SaeedAzimi1772) April 7, 2024
The attack leveled a building adjacent to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, killing seven IRGC members including two generals, and at least one member of the Hezbollah terror group. Iran claims the bombed building was a consular annex. The IRGC is a US-designated terror group.
Both Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah have vowed revenge. One of those killed in the Damascus attack was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, reportedly responsible for the IRGC’s operations in Syria and Lebanon, for Iranian militias there, and for ties with Hezbollah, and was thus the most senior commander of Iranian forces in the two countries.
Possible scenarios for which the IDF is understood to be preparing include missile and drone attacks by Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen — all of which have been carried out amid the ongoing Gaza war — and ballistic missile attacks directly from Iran, a situation that Israel has not yet faced. Israeli officials believe the country’s air defense systems will be able to handle the threat.
On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces canceled all leave for active combat soldiers, though the IDF Home Front Command has issued no special instructions to the public.
A day earlier, the IDF said it was bolstering air defenses and calling up reservists, following an assessment.
Iran has reportedly also put its military forces on “full high alert” ahead of any expected strike.
Two Iranian officials quoted on Friday by The New York Times said Iran has made a decision to directly attack Israel, in a move aimed at creating deterrence.
