Iranian demonstrators attend an anti-Israeli gathering in front of the British Embassy in Tehran, Iran, April 14, 2024.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Iran warned Israel on Sunday of a larger attack on its territory should it retaliate against Tehran's overnight drone and missile attack, adding that US bases would be targeted if Washington backs any Israeli military action against Iran.
Iran launched explosive drones and fired missiles at Israel late on Saturday in its first direct attack on Israeli territory, a retaliatory strike against Israel's bombing of its consulate in Syria's capital on April 1 that killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
"Our response will be much larger than tonight's military action if Israel retaliates against Iran," armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri told state TV, adding that Tehran warned Washington via Switzerland that any backing of Israeli retaliation against Iran would result in US regional bases being targeted.
"Our operations are over and we have no intention to continue them," Bagheri said, before claiming that Iran's attack had successfully targeted two Israeli military bases.
Addressing Iranian state TV, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Major General Hossein Salami, said Tehran had entered a new equation in which any Israeli attack on its interests, assets, officials or citizens would be reciprocated from its own territory.