Iran to Israel: ‘Don’t play with lion’s tail’
Iran’s government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani warned Israel not to play with the “lion’s tail,” stressing that Iran is serious about defending itself and does not joke about such matters.
Referring to the Iranian foreign minister’s visits to regional countries, Mohajerani said the trip aims to establish peace in the region which is in danger of a wider war after Israel’s military offensive on Lebanon late last month.
Her remarks came amid Israel’s threats of military action against Iran’s recent missile attack on the regime’s military sites, which the Islamic Republic carried out in response to the assassination of the leaders and top commanders of resistance movements in region.
Mohajerani warned about the consequences of any military attack on Iran.
On October 1, Iran responded to the Israeli assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and IRGC general Abbas Nilforoushan by launching as many as 200 ballistic missiles toward the regime’s military and intelligence bases all over the occupied Palestinian territories.
Dubbed Operation True Promise II, the retaliatory strike dealt a severe blow to the regime all the more ruinous than its prequel in April, with Tel Aviv having so far declined to reveal the extent of loss it suffered despite vowing to respond on several occasions.
While the Israeli regime has threatened to retaliate, Iranian officials have warned that Tehran is “ready” to respond to any adventurism.
The United States has also announced it is sending an advanced anti-missile system, known as THAAD, and a number of troops to Israel to defend the regime against any Iranian missile attack on the occupied territories.
Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh on Wednesday downplayed as part of a “psychological warfare” the US deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system.
Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of a weekly cabinet session in Tehran, Nasirzadeh said, “THAAD is an anti-ballistic [missile] system. It is not anything new and had already been brought up.”
“We consider such measures by the enemy to be in line with a psychological war. There is no specific problem,” he added. “None of the threats issued by the Zionist regime is new.”
Since October 2023, the regime has launched a devastating war on the Gaza Strip where more than 42,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children – have been killed in the Israeli strikes.
It has also intensified its strikes on Lebanon since late last month, killing more than 2, 300 people there.