DAILYMAIL – A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander has threatened to destroy Israel if it attempts to wage a war on Iran.
Brigadier General Hossein Salami, deputy head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said any attack by Israel on Iran ‘will definitely lead to its own elimination’.
Salami spoke out after Israel killed 11 people in bombing raids on what it believes were Iranian military bases inside Syria.
Brigadier General Hossein Salami
warned Israel that any attempt to start a war with Iran would
‘definitely lead to its own elimination’ (file image)
Salami spoke out after Israeli airstrikes against Iranian bases in Syria killed 11 people. This image, released by Israel’s Defense Forces, shows the location of the airstrikes
The bombing raids were carried out on Monday after Israel said it was forced to intercept a missile fired at a ski resort its territory from Syria.
Tehran has stationed forces in the war-torn country to support dictator Bashar al-Assad, but Israel fears its arch-enemy is using the war to establish a permanent military presence on its border.
Salami, speaking on state-owned television, said: We announce that if Israel takes any action to wage a war against us, it will definitely lead to its own elimination and the freeing of occupied (Palestinian) territories.’
His remarks came as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah also warned Israel over its attacks in Syria, saying it could drag the region into a war.
Nasrallah told Al-Mayadeen TV that Iran, Syria and Hezbollah could ‘at any moment’ decide to deal differently with Israel’s actions.
Speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he said: ‘Be cautious. Don’t continue what you are doing in Syria.
Israel said the strikes came in response to a missile fired at its territory from Syria, which was intercepted over the Golan Heights (pictured)
Israel’s armed forces posted footage of the airstrikes (pictured). The raids were the deadliest Israeli strikes since last May, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said
‘Don’t miscalculate and don’t drag the region into a war or a major confrontation.’
Iranian officials have previously said Tehran, which does not recognise Israel, would respond swiftly to any Israeli attack.
Israel backed U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to back out of the 2015 international deal on Iran’s nuclear programme and welcomed Washington’s reimposition of sanctions on the country.
Israel sees Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes as a threat to its existence. Iran says its nuclear work is for peaceful purposes only.
However, Trump’s shock announcement that all 2,000 US troops in Syria would be coming home is thought to have caused fury in the Jewish state.
Trump said he spoke with Netanyahu before making the announcement and assured him Israel would be taken care of.
‘We are going to take great care of Israel. Israel is going to be good,’ he said.
‘We give Israel 4.5 billion a year. And we give frankly a lot more than that if you look at the books. They’ve been doing a good job.’