Following Israeli missile strikes on several military targets in Iran this weekend, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, threatened Israel with “harsh consequences” on Monday.
“The harsh consequences will be unimaginable,” Salami told Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, which is reportedly backed by the radical Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Israel “failed to achieve its sinister objectives” with Saturday’s airstrikes, he added.
Israel fired on military targets in Iran on Saturday night in response to an Iranian missile attack in early October. According to Israeli information, the attacks targeted missile factories and air defense systems. According to Iranian sources, four Iranian soldiers were killed in the attacks. At Tehran’s request, the UN Security Council has convened an emergency meeting for Monday.
The Iranian media played down the impact
Salami said the Israeli attack was a sign of “misjudgment and helplessness,” according to Tasnim. Iranian media had downplayed the impact of the Israeli attacks. Analysts see this as an attempt to prevent the conflict from escalating further. Iran’s supreme spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Sunday that Israel’s attacks “should neither be exaggerated nor downplayed.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi referred to his country’s “right to respond.” A few hours before the Israeli strikes, Tehran received “indications (…) of the possibility of a night attack,” he added.
Iraq protests against airspace violations
The Israeli Air Force used Iraqi airspace to attack Iran, sparking protests from the government in Baghdad. An Iraqi government spokesperson said that Iraq had therefore sent a letter of protest to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the UN Security Council ahead of the UN Security Council meeting. Israel has flagrantly violated Iraq’s airspace and sovereignty.
Iraq “will not allow Iraqi airspace or soil to be used for attacks on other countries,” said a report by the state agency INA. This applies especially to attacks on “neighboring countries with which Iraq maintains a relationship of mutual respect and common interests,” Salami said.
There is a border of about 1,500 kilometers between Iraq and Iran. Iran has great influence in the neighboring country. More than a dozen political parties in Iraq have relations with Iran, and many of Iraq’s militias also remain loyal to Tehran.
The protest is also aimed at the US, which controls Iraqi airspace as part of military cooperation. Baghdad said it would also discuss this violation with the US.
Source: Krone
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