ISFAHAN, A top military commander on Saturday reiterated Iran's promise of retaliation after an airstrike widely blamed on Israel for destroying Iran's consulate in Syria earlier this week, which killed two elite Iranians. 12 people, including generals, were killed.
Iran's Joint Chief of Staff General Mohammad Bagheri told mourners gathered for the funeral of General Mohammad Reza Zahadi that Iran would decide when and how to carry out a "revenge operation". Zahadi was the highest-ranking commander killed in Monday's attack.
"We will decide the timing, the type, the plan of the operation, in a way Israel will regret what it did," he said. "It will definitely be done."
The attack on the Iranian diplomatic compound was a significant escalation in the long-running shadow war between the two arch enemies, and Israel is bracing for an Iranian response.
In total, 12 people were killed in the attack: seven Iranian Revolutionary Guard members, four Syrians and one Hezbollah militia member.
On Friday, Gen. Hosseini Salami, commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, warned that "our brave people will punish the Zionist regime," amid escalating threats against Israel.
Tensions have risen in Gaza against the backdrop of the six-month-old Israel-Hamas war and renewed fears of a wider regional conflict. Islamic militant group Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 17 years, is one of Iran's proxies, along with Lebanon's Hezbollah militia and Yemen's Houthi rebels.
Both Hezbollah and the Houthis have carried out attacks during the Gaza war, with Hezbollah engaging in daily cross-border exchanges with Israel and the Houthis frequently targeting Red Sea shipping.
Bagheri made the comments in Zahedi's hometown of Isfahan, about 440 kilometers (270 miles) south of the capital, Tehran.(AP)
RUP
Iran's Joint Chief of Staff General Mohammad Bagheri told mourners gathered for the funeral of General Mohammad Reza Zahadi that Iran would decide when and how to carry out a "revenge operation". Zahadi was the highest-ranking commander killed in Monday's attack.
"We will decide the timing, the type, the plan of the operation, in a way Israel will regret what it did," he said. "It will definitely be done."
The attack on the Iranian diplomatic compound was a significant escalation in the long-running shadow war between the two arch enemies, and Israel is bracing for an Iranian response.
In total, 12 people were killed in the attack: seven Iranian Revolutionary Guard members, four Syrians and one Hezbollah militia member.
On Friday, Gen. Hosseini Salami, commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, warned that "our brave people will punish the Zionist regime," amid escalating threats against Israel.
Tensions have risen in Gaza against the backdrop of the six-month-old Israel-Hamas war and renewed fears of a wider regional conflict. Islamic militant group Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 17 years, is one of Iran's proxies, along with Lebanon's Hezbollah militia and Yemen's Houthi rebels.
Both Hezbollah and the Houthis have carried out attacks during the Gaza war, with Hezbollah engaging in daily cross-border exchanges with Israel and the Houthis frequently targeting Red Sea shipping.
Bagheri made the comments in Zahedi's hometown of Isfahan, about 440 kilometers (270 miles) south of the capital, Tehran.(AP)
RUP
