By: Mohammed Jinadu
The commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards warned Israel on Thursday against attacking the Islamic Republic in retaliation for a missile barrage as the Israeli military stepped up its offensive in Lebanon against Tehran-backed Hezbollah.
Fears of a wider Middle East conflict have grown as Israel plans its response to the Oct. 1 missile attack carried out by Iran after Israeli airstrikes on Iranian-allied militants.
“We tell you (Israel) that if you commit any aggression against any point we will painfully attack the same point of yours,” Hossein Salami said in a televised speech, adding that Iran can penetrate Israel’s defences.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday about Israel’s operations in Lebanon and Gaza, aiming to avert a regional war.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, on a Middle East tour, met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, with Sisi reiterating Egypt’s call to avoid an expansion of the conflict, the Egyptian presidency said.
However Israel shows no signs of easing its military campaigns against Hezbollah in Lebanon after assassinating several of its leaders, and Hamas in Gaza and it has vowed to punish Iran for its Oct. 1 attack.
Israel struck Syria’s port city of Latakia early on Thursday, Syrian state media reported, and the United States said it carried out strikes on Wednesday in areas of Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthis.
