Iranian army chief threatens Israel with ‘maximum damage’ as payback for killing generals

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Israel “will be punished” for the killings.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

An Iranian army chief threatened Israel with “maximum damage” for the killing of terrorist generals in a Damascus airstrike last week.

Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri said on Saturday at a ceremony in Isfahan honoring dead IRGC general Mohammad Reza Zahedi that an attack against Israel “will be carried out at the right time.”

He added that the attack will include “necessary precision and planning, and with maximum damage to the enemy so that they regret their action.”

Amid Bagheri’s threat, the crowds chanted, “Down with Israel!” and “Down with the United States!”

Additionally, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Israel “will be punished” for the killings.

Last Monday, an airstrike at the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus killed 7 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps terrorists, including two Quds Force generals.

Although Israel hasn’t claimed responsibility for the attack, Iran has threatened retaliation against Israel for the death of the generals.

Following a conversation with President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Iran has been acting against us for years — directly and via proxies. And, therefore, Israel acts against Iran and its proxies — defensively and offensively.”

Netanyahu added: “We will know how to defend ourselves, and we will act according to the simple principle: that those who harm us or plan to harm us, we will harm.”

Not long after the strike, The IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva said in a closed meeting “it is not certain that the worst is behind us, and we have complex days ahead of us.”

When these statements were reported, more Israelis began stocking up on perishables and generators, which led IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari to calm the public’s fears and prevent widespread hoarding and panic.

Hagari wrote on X that there was no need to “buy generators, stock up on food and withdraw money from ATMs.”

“The instructions of the Home Front Command remained unchanged,” he said.

Iran militaryIRGCMohammad Bagheri