Israel's Foreign Minister threatened this Wednesday that his country's forces would directly attack Iran if the Islamic Republic launches an attack from its territory against Israel. His comments come amid growing tension following the killing of seven Iranian commanders in an explosion at the Iranian consulate in Damascus earlier this month. “If Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran,” Israel Katz said in a post on the X social network in both Farsi and Hebrew.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated his promise to retaliate. “The evil regime must be punished, and it will be punished,” he said. Tehran blames Israel for the attack that collapsed the consulate building and killed 12 people. Israel has not acknowledged its action, although it has been preparing for an Iranian response.
The attack killed General Mohamad Reza Zahedi, a figure in Iran's Revolutionary Guards who led the Quds Force – its elite military body – in Lebanon and Syria until 2016. Among the other eleven dead were six members of the Revolutionary Guards. the Revolution, four Syrians and a member of Hizbullah.
Israel has struck dozens of Iran-linked targets in Syria over the years, apparently intending to disrupt Iranian arms transfers and military cooperation with Hizbullah. The Israeli military and government rarely take responsibility for or comment on these attacks. Since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began six months ago, there have been daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hizbullah along the Israel-Lebanon border.
On Tuesday, during a ceremony to mark Eid el Fitr, the day that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the supreme leader recalled that the consulate and embassy institutions in any country are the territory of that country, and “ “When they attack our consulate, it means they have attacked our territory.” Ali Khamenei, in a series of messages on the social network For Khamenei, it is “regrettable” that some Muslim governments “are helping” Israel during the Gaza war, and that such associations “will bring their own destruction.” It seemed an allusion to the United Arab Emirates, which has excellent relations with Israel, to the point of hosting troops from the Jewish State on the Yemeni island of Socotra – occupied by the Emirates – to monitor the movement of the Iranian Navy.
The pressure from the radicals on the Government – and the supreme leader himself – in favor of retaliation against Israel has been noted in Iran, but neither Khamenei – nor the Israeli ministers – have given any idea about the form that retaliation could take. . It is assumed, however, that if it left Iranian territory to reach Israeli territory, the ayatollah regime would be exposed to a very forceful Israeli response, precisely the type of situation that everyone has so far tried to avoid. “Anyone who attacks our territory we will attack in theirs,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reiterated this Wednesday. The hypotheses point, therefore, to an attack against Israeli interests in another country. In any case, Tehran has indicated that everything will happen at the time and place it considers.
