JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s foreign minister threatened Wednesday that its country’s forces would strike
Iran directly if the Islamic Republic launched an attack from its territory against Israel, as tensions
between the rival powers flare following the killings of Iranian generals in a blast at the Iranian consulate
in Syria.
“If Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran,” Israel Katz said in a post on X in
both Farsi and Hebrew.
The remarks came after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated early Wednesday a
promise to retaliate against Israel over the attack on its consulate in Damascus earlier this month.
Tehran holds Israel responsible for the strike that leveled the building, killing 12 people. Israel has not
acknowledged its involvement, though it has been bracing for an Iranian response to the attack, a
significant escalation in their long-running shadow war.
Khamenei spoke at a prayer ceremony celebrating the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan,
saying the airstrike was “wrongdoing” and akin to an attack on Iranian territory.
“When they attacked our consulate area, it was like they attacked our territory,” Khamenei said, in
remarks broadcast by Iranian state TV. “The evil regime must be punished, and it will be punished.”
Neither Katz nor the Ayatollah elaborated on the way they would retaliate.
Among 12 killed in the blast on Apr. 1 were seven Iranian Revolutionary Guard members, four Syrians
and a Hezbollah militia member.
Khamenei also criticized the West, particularly the U.S. and Britain, for supporting Israel in its war
against Hamas in Gaza.
“It was expected they (would) prevent (Israel) in this disaster. They did not. They did not fulfil their
duties, the Western governments,” he said.
Iran supports anti-Israeli militant groups like Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah. It does not
recognize Israel.
War erupted erupted on October 7 when Hamas led a devastating cross-border attack on Israel that
killed 1,200 people, amid numerous atrocities. Israel responded with a military campaign to destroy
Hamas and free the 253 hostages who were abducted during the attack and taken to Gaza.
According to the source, Iran assessed that Israel was trying to extract itself from complications in the
Gaza campaign by trying to pull the US into a direct conflict with Tehran. Iran asked the US not to get
involved if it responded against Israel while the US called on Tehran to not exact its revenge by attacking
US targets in the region, the source said.
Iran is seeking conditions aimed at “limiting the expansion of the scope of the war in the region”
and to keep the US out of the conflict, said the source. So far, there has been no response to
the proposal, the source said. (AP)
