Iranian officials have vowed a military response to the Israeli airstrikes that occurred in West Jerusalem last Saturday.
Reports from multiple media outlets on Wednesday and Thursday, citing anonymous sources, suggest that Tehran is planning to retaliate for last week’s Israeli bombing of Iran before the US presidential election on November 5.
The recent Israeli strikes against targets in Iran, which occurred last Saturday, represent the latest escalation in the ongoing Middle East conflict. These attacks were a response to a barrage of missiles launched by Iran at Israel in early October, which in turn was retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah and Iranian commanders. This year has witnessed a recurring pattern of escalating violence between the two nations, with each side carrying out direct attacks in response to the other’s actions.
Several US news outlets have indicated that Iran’s response could be imminent, potentially occurring within a matter of days.
“The response of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the aggression of the Zionist regime will be definitive and painful,” CNN reported on Wednesday, quoting a senior source familiar with Iran’s deliberations. The news network declined to specify the source’s nationality.
While CNN’s source did not provide a precise timeframe for the attack, they indicated that it “will likely take place before the day of the US presidential election”, scheduled for November 5. On Thursday, at least three high-ranking Iranian officials also vowed retaliation for the recent Israeli strikes, though none specified a timeframe for their response.
Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), pledged an “unimaginable answer” to the attack in a speech cited by Tasnim news agency.
Ali Fadavi, the deputy commander of the IRGC, described an Iranian response as “inevitable.”
“For over 40 years, we have never left any attack unanswered,” he stated to Lebanese news outlet Al Mayadeen on Thursday.
Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, a senior advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, similarly declared that Iran would deliver “a harsh and regretful response” to the Israeli strikes.
According to two Israeli sources, intelligence suggests that Iran is planning an attack in the coming days, possibly prior to the US election.
However, Iranian sources cited by The New York Times reportedly believe the attack is more likely to occur after the election, to avoid potentially benefiting former President Donald Trump’s re-election prospects.
Khamenei has ordered preparations for a retaliatory strike, concluding that the damage inflicted by Israel was too substantial to ignore, according to three officials cited by the newspaper.
Tensions between Israel and Iran have escalated since West Jerusalem launched its military operation in Gaza in response to Hamas’ surprise attack on the Jewish state in October last year, resulting in the deaths of approximately 1,100 individuals and the kidnapping of over 200. The subsequent Israeli operation in the enclave has claimed the lives of over 43,000 Palestinians, according to local officials.