Iran’s IRGC chief vows to respond ‘painfully’ to any Israeli attack

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - The chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened Thursday to strike Israel again in response to any Israeli military action against Tehran.

“Do not repeat your mistake,” Gen. Hossein Salami said at a funeral ceremony held for Abbas Nilforoushan, an IRGC commander, who was killed alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month.

“If you misbehave, if you strike anything of our targets either in the region or in Iran, we will again hit you painfully,” he added as cited by Iranian media.

The Iranian commander said that the Oct. 1 missile attack against Israel was the “tiniest” in Iran’s military capabilities.

“We do know the enemy's (Israel) weakness,” Salami added.

Salami’s warning comes as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is visiting Egypt on Thursday as part of diplomatic efforts to prevent any Israeli attack against Iran.

Iran is on high alert in anticipation of an Israeli military response to the Oct. 1 missile attack by Tehran, which said the attack was in retaliation for the recent assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.

Israel has threatened a "lethal, precise, and especially surprising" retaliatory attack against Iran.

Regional tensions have escalated due to Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 42,400 people, mostly women and children, following a Hamas attack last year.

The conflict has spread to Lebanon, with Israel launching deadly strikes across the country, which have killed more than 1,500 people and injured over 4,500 others since last month.