THE deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Rev­olutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Gen Ali Fadavi, has said his country’s “response to the Zionist aggression is definite”, in remarks reported by the New York Times, quoting Iranian media. This has again upped the ante in the region.

The NYT report also quoted Gen Fadavi as saying “we have never left an aggression unanswered in 40 years. We are capable of destroying all that the Zionists possess with one operation”, triggering fears of an all-out regional war.

These remarks were the first on-record reaction by Iran to the missile attacks launched by Israeli warplanes last Tuesday which, Israel claimed, caused significant damage to the Iranian air defence missile batteries and sites mixing fuel for its ballistic missiles.

Gen Fadavi was not alone in delivering the war­ning as the head of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Kha­­­menei’s office, Ghulam Hussain Mohammadi Gol­payegani, reinforced the general’s message and said “a fierce, tooth-breaking response” will be de­­livered to retaliate for Israel’s “desperate action”.

Iran had warned that it would retaliate against US allies in the region if they participated in any way in a military strike against Tehran.

Both these statements came after Ayatollah Kha­­­menei was given a detailed assessment by se­­nior military and IRGC commanders on the damage inflicted by the Israeli air-launched missiles.

One noteworthy element of the Israeli warplanes’ missile attack on Iran was that Saudi airspace wasn’t used and, after Iraqi and Iranian air........

© Dawn