During a public funeral held in Tehran, Iranian General Hossein Salami warned that Israel “cannot escape the consequences”.
Tensions have intensified between Iran, Israel, and the United States following an Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria, which killed a number of senior leaders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the Pentagon.
CBS News reported on Friday that US officials claim to have gathered intelligence suggesting that Iran is planning a retaliatory attack, potentially involving Shahed loitering drones and cruise missiles.
The timing and target of the attack remain uncertain, but “the attack is likely to come between now and the end of Ramadan next week,” according to CBS.
CBS added that, during a public funeral held in Tehran for the seven IRGC members killed in the Israeli strike, Iranian General Hossein Salami warned that Israel “cannot escape the consequences” for assassinating Iranian military officers, though no specifics regarding retaliation were provided.
The report added that US President Biden reassured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of US support during a recent phone call, addressing Iranian threats to Israel’s security.
In a related development, Iranian presidential adviser Mohammad Jamshidi urged American leaders not to become entangled in what he termed “Netanyahu’s trap”.
“Stay away so you won’t get hurt,” Jamshidi wrote in a post on X.
In a written message, the Islamic Republic of Iran warns US leadership not to get dragged in Netanyahu's trap for US: Stay away so you won't get hurt. In response US asked Iran not to target American facilities.
— Mohammad Jamshidi (@MhmmdJamshidi) April 5, 2024
CBS News confirmed that the US received a written message from Iran, to which it responded with a warning against using the Israeli strike as a “pretext to attack US personnel and facilities.”
Notably, the US and Iran communicated through the Swiss government, given the absence of direct diplomatic ties between the two nations.
‘No Act Will Go Unanswered’
In a separate report, The New York Times said that US officials in Washington and in the Middle East confirmed that “ they were bracing for possible Iranian retaliation for the Israeli airstrike on Monday in Damascus, Syria” and that “US military forces in the region have been placed on heightened alert.”
“Two Iranian officials who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly said that Iran had placed all its armed forces on full high alert and that a decision had been made that Iran must respond directly to the Damascus attack to create deterrence,” the report stated.
The NYT quoted General Salami as saying during the funeral that “our brave men will punish the Zionist regime”.
“We warn that no act by any enemy against our holy system will go unanswered and the art of the Iranian nation is to break the power of empires,” he reportedly added.
🔴LIVE: Funeral held in Isfahan for one of military advisors killed in Israeli attack on Iran's embassy in Syria https://t.co/wNkx7tKic8
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) April 6, 2024
Israeli Airstrike
Israeli forces targeted on Monday the Iranian embassy complex in the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing three generals and four other officers of the Quds Force.
According to a Reuters correspondent in Damascus, the consulate was “flattened,” in what was described as “a startling apparent escalation of conflict in the Middle East that would pit Israel against Iran and its allies.”
The attack on the consulate is “a breach of all international conventions,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a call to his Syrian counterpart, according to Iranian media. He added that Tehran will hold Israel responsible.
‘Tehran Will Surely Respond’ – Israel Escalates by ‘Flattening’ Iranian Consulate in Damascus
Iran’s ambassador to Syria said the response will be “harsh,” according to Reuters.
The Quds Force is the IRGC’s military intelligence and unconventional operations arm. Zahedi was reportedly in charge of its operations in Syria and Lebanon. Its most famous commander, General Qassem Soleimani, was assassinated in January 2020 by a US drone, while visiting Baghdad, Iraq.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
