“Israel knows very well that it will receive a response, as happened in the past,” Iranian official says.
By World Israel News Staff
Iranian officials said that Israel was responsible for an airstrike which saw a defense facility manufacturing weapons seriously damaged, calling the bombing a violation of international law and pledging revenge against the Jewish state.
Last week, an attack widely reported in international media as being carried out by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency caused a drone manufacturing site in Isfahan to temporarily cease operations.
Israel has not confirmed or denied involvement regarding the airstrike.
Iranian Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani complained about the strike in an open letter to the body, urging international condemnation of “Israel’s warmongering statements and acts of terrorism.”
The letter emphasized Iran’s “legitimate and inherent right to defend its national security and respond resolutely to any threats by the Israeli regime, wherever and whenever deemed necessary.”
An anonymous Iranian official told the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera news network that Tehran is planning to retaliate.
“Israel knows very well that it will receive a response, as happened in the past,” they said.
Israel and Iran have been engaged in an ongoing shadow war in recent years, with both countries striking strategic assets in third countries and via proxies.
Jerusalem is also believed to be behind the assassinations of senior Iranian nuclear scientists and members of IRGC.
The recent strike is notable because Israel is believed to have acted in its own interests, rather than in coordination with the U.S. or as part of an effort to stem the flow of Iranian-made weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine.
In a November 2022 interview with Hebrew-language Channel 12 News, National Security Council head Tzachi Hanegbi said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “will act, in my assessment, to destroy the nuclear facilities in Iran.”
On Monday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry “strongly condemned” the airstrike, in a statement which appeared to place the blame for the bombing on Israel.
“We strongly condemn any provocative actions potentially capable of provoking an uncontrolled escalation of tension in an already far from calm region. Such destructive actions may have unpredictable consequences for peace and stability in the Middle East,” Russian officials said.