Iran: Iran supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday threatened both Israel and its main ally the United States of a “crushing response”, news agency Associated Press reported. Khamenei latest warning comes as Washington increased troop deployments in the region in anticipation of a retaliation from Tehran.
“The enemies, whether the Zionist regime or the United States of America, will definitely receive a crushing response to what they are doing to Iran and the Iranian nation and to the resistance front,” said Khamenei in a video released by Iranian state media.
The 85-year-old Khamenei did not mention the scale or timing of the response. Earlier, the supreme leader had sounded more cautious in his first reaction to Israeli attacks, where he said it “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed”.
Earlier The New York Times reported that Khamenei had ordered for a “harsh and regretful” response to Israel for its first “open attack” on October 26 that targeted secretive military facilities and killed at least five people.
The attack reportedly damaged Tehran’s missile production capabilities, air defence systems, critical energy infrastructure and a main port in the south. Israel reportedly avoided nuclear sites and oil production facilities after specific instructions from the US.