Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened Israel and the US today with a “crushing response” because of the attacks against Iran and its allies, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
„The enemies, whether it is the Zionist regime or the US, will definitely receive a crushing response for what they are doing to Iran and the Iranian nation and the resistance front,” Khamenei said in a video released by the Iranian state media.
The supreme leader did not give details on when the possible attack would take place or what its scope would be. The U.S. military is active throughout the Middle East, and some U.S. service members were also recently deployed to Israel to operate a U.S. anti-missile system battery.
Khamenei made the statement as Iranian officials have increasingly threatened to launch another strike against Israel, following an October 26 Israeli attack that targeted military bases and other sites in the Islamic Republic and at least five people were killed, according to the AP.
Further attacks by either side could spread violence in the Middle East, which is already on the brink of regional conflict over the war between the Palestinian Islamist movement “Hamas” and Israel in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli ground operation in Lebanon.
Eighty-five-year-old Khamenei had taken a more cautious approach in previous remarks, saying authorities would carefully assess Iran's response and that the Israeli attack “should not be exaggerated, but should not be downplayed either”.
The Supreme Leader today met students at an event to mark Students' Day. On November 4, 1978, Iranian military personnel opened fire on students protesting the rule of the Shah of Iran at the University of Tehran. The shooting killed and wounded several students and further escalated tensions in Iran, eventually leading to the Shah's flight from the country and the Islamic Revolution of 1979.