‘Israel Warned Iran Against Retaliation’: ‘We Will Hit the Targets Liberated Last Time’

Israel warned Iran on Tuesday not to retaliate for Israeli airstrikes near Tehran last week in response to a massive ballistic missile attack launched by Tehran on October 1.

Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi told the air and ground teams, “If Iran makes the mistake of launching a new missile attack on Israel, we will once again know how to reach Iran, this time with the capabilities we did not use.” He took part in Iran’s attack on missile factories and other facilities last Saturday.

Halevi added that the reason Israel held back when it struck Iran’s missile factories and other facilities on Saturday was because “we might have to do it again.”

It comes after Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that Tehran would “use all available tools” to respond to Israel’s attack on military targets in Iran over the weekend.

While Iran had previously downplayed an Israeli airstrike on Saturday, saying it caused only limited damage, US President Joe Biden had called for an end to tensions that have raised fears of an all-out conflagration in the Middle East.

Speaking at a weekly televised press conference, Baghaei said: “(Iran) will use all available means to deliver a decisive and effective response to the Zionist regime (Israel).”

Baghaei added that the nature of Iran’s response depends on the nature of the Israeli attack, but did not elaborate.