Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has praised the ballistic missile attack launched by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Israel on October 1.
“Based on the legitimate rights and with the aim of (establishing) peace and security for Iran and the region, a decisive response was given to the Zionist regime’s aggression. This was in line with defending Iran’s interests and citizens. (Benjamin) Netanyahu should know that Iran is not a warmongering country, but it stands decisively against any threats. This is just a fragment of our capability. Do not get into a conflict with Iran,” the president said in a post on X.
The IRGC gave details of “Operation True Promise-II” in a statement. “Ninety percent of the Iranian missiles fired have successfully hit the targets, including the ‘strategic Israeli centers’ in the occupied territories,” the statement said.
In the second statement released a few hours after the massive missile strike on Israel, the IRGC said “the Iranian homegrown missiles have targeted strategic centers” inside Israel.
The IRGC fired a number of ballistic missiles on Israeli targets that hit tanks in Netzarim in Gaza and “destroyed a large number of tanks”, according to the statement.
Reportedly, Iran launched 400 ballistic missiles at Israel, from the cities of Isfahan, Tabriz, Khoramabad, Karaj and Arak.
On September 30, the Commander-in-Chief of Iran’s Army, Maj Gen Abdolrahim Mousavi, said Israel should wait as a response to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination is “coming”.
“Nasrallah’s blood will be more powerful than Nasrallah himself in toppling the Israeli regime and its supporters,” Mousavi said, adding that in fact, Israel is moving closer to its downfall “with every passing day”.
On September 28, Hezbollah announced the death of its leader following Israeli air strikes on the southern Dahiyeh suburb of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, a day earlier. Following the assassination, the Iranian supreme leader declared five days of national mourning, while citizens in various Iranian cities staged demonstrations to condemn the killing and express support for the Shia group. However, the national carrier Iran Air cancelled its flights to Beirut “until further notice”.
The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran, Maj Gen Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, issued a statement saying that “the liberation of Quds [Jerusalem] will continue despite the martyrdom of resistance commanders”.
He also referred to the IRGC commander Abbas Nilforoushan who had served as a senior military adviser for Iran in Lebanon and was killed alongside Nasrallah.
“The martyrdom of resistance commanders will be a source of awareness, awakening, and strengthening the spirit of anti-imperialism and the growing power of the great Islamic Resistance organisation,” he said.
Nilforoushan was the operations chief and head of the Lebanon division of Iran’s Quds Force, the overseas branch of the IRGC. His predecessor, Brig Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi, was killed in an Israeli attack on Iran’s consulate in Damascus on April 1.
A number of senior Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, visited Hezbollah’s offices in Tehran on September 30 to express their condolences following the death of Hassan Nasrallah.
During his visit to Hezbollah’s office, Ali Shamkhani, a senior aide to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and former national security chief, referred to Nasrallah as his “mujahid brother” and said that “the disastrous consequences of these actions will catch up with them sooner than they expect.”
Mohammad Mokhber, another aide to Khamenei and a former acting president, told reporters following his visit to Hezbollah’s offices that “Iran undoubtedly has responsibilities toward the people of Lebanon and the Hezbollah movement, which it undertakes with great seriousness.”
At a press conference on September 30, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanani said that Iran will not leave any of the aggressive actions of the Zionist regime unanswered. Tehran will take measures in the face of any adventurous action targeting national interests and security, he added.
“There is no need to send extra or volunteer forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said, adding that fighters in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories “have the capability and strength to defend themselves against the aggression.”
During the almost year-long conflict, Israel has killed at least seven senior commanders of Hezbollah, but, all assassinated Hezbollah commanders have reportedly been replaced.
Some reports claim that Hashem Saffieddine is a frontrunner to replace Nasrallah. He is a cousin of Nasrallah, brother of Hezbollah’s representative to Iran Abdullah Safieddine, and father-in-law to the daughter of late Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani who was killed in a US drone attack near Baghdad airport in January 2020.
Israel has intensified strikes on Iran’s allies – Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis – in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Yemen, as it prepares to expand its ground operations across the border. Israeli commandos have carried out small-scale raids in Lebanon, gathering intelligence and targeting Hezbollah infrastructure ahead of a possible wider ground offensive.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an English-language video appealing directly to Iranians on September 30 that Israel stands with the people of Iran.
“Every day you see a regime that subjugates you make fiery speeches about defending Lebanon, about defending Gaza. Yet every day that regime plunges our region deeper into darkness and deeper into war,” Netanyahu said.
Source » caspiannews