2024-04-15 00:30:13
The head of the Iranian armed forces said this Sunday that the attack carried out overnight against Israel “achieved all its objectives”.
“Operation Honest Promise was successfully carried out between yesterday (Saturday) night and this morning, and achieved all its objectives”, declared General Mohammad Bagheri on television, specifying that no urban or economic center was targeted by ‘drones’ ( unmanned aircraft) and Iranian missiles.
Bagheri stated that the two most targeted locations were “the intelligence center that provided the Zionists with the necessary information” for the attack that destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1, as well as “the Novatim air base, from where the Israeli ‘F-35’ fighter planes that bombed Iran’s diplomatic facilities in the Syrian capital.
“These two centers were considerably damaged and put out of service”, he guaranteed.
“We have no intention of continuing this operation, but if the Zionist regime takes action against the Islamic Republic of Iran, whether on our soil or in our centers in Syria or elsewhere, our next operation will be much more important than this one,” warned the head of the Iranian armed forces.
Israel says it intercepted 99% of more than 300 Iranian drones and missiles
General Bagheri also indicated that Iranian authorities sent a message to the United States “in which they are warned that if they cooperate with Israel in its possible next actions, the bases [norte-americanas na região] they won’t be safe.”
For his part, the commander in chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, General Hossein Salami, warned today that Tehran will counterattack in a way “more severe than the bombings” of Saturday night if Israel begins an offensive against Iranian interests or citizens in any part of the country.
“If the Zionist regime (Israel) attacks our interests, authorities or citizens from any point, we will strike back,” said the head of Iran’s elite military corps and ideological army, reported the television channel Press TV.
“Our reaction to any Israeli aggression will be more severe”, assured Salami in statements to Press TV.
Israel plans “significant response”
Israel, which had been warning for several days that Iranian retaliation was imminent, is now planning a “significant response” to the Iranian attack, an official who requested anonymity told Channel 12 television station.
Salami stated that the operation on Saturday night and which continued into the early morning, in which hundreds of missiles and drones were fired at Israel, “was more successful than expected”.
“Iran’s missiles were able to pierce supposedly strong Israeli defenses,” said Salami, contradicting Tel Aviv’s version, which claimed to have intercepted 99% of the more than 300 ‘drones’, ballistic and cruise missiles.
The Israeli Army stated this Sunday that, of the approximately 170 ‘drones’ that Iran launched before midnight, none reached Israeli territory; and would also have intercepted 25 of the approximately 30 cruise missiles and almost all of the “more than 120” ballistic missiles.
Luxembourg advises against traveling to the Middle East
For his part, Iran’s Defense Minister, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, warned Saturday night that any country that allows the use of its airspace or territory to carry out attacks on Iranian soil will receive a strong response.
The Iranian attack occurred in retaliation for the bombing attributed by Tehran to Israel, on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, on April 1, in which six Syrians and seven members of the Revolutionary Guard died.
Among the dead was the leader of the Quds Force branch for Syria and Lebanon, Brigadier General Mohamed Reza Zahedi.
Iran’s supreme leader, ‘Ayatollah’ Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly insisted in recent weeks that “the Zionist regime must be and will be punished”, threats that were repeated by virtually all of the country’s senior officials following the attack in Damascus.
2024-04-15 00:30:13