Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has instructed his forces to prepare a direct attack against Israel after deeming the Jewish nation’s retaliatory strike last week too big to ignore, according to a new report.
While Khamenei attempted to downplay to the public the extent of Israel’s attack on Tehran’s military facilities, privately, he greenlit plans for a counterattack in a meeting with his Supreme National Security Council, three Iranian officials told The New York Times.
The ayatollah allegedly made his decision on Monday after reviewing the damage report from his military officials, which detailed the strikes across Tehran’s missile production plants and defense systems.
Khamenei told his generals that the attack, which also killed four Iranian soldiers, could not go unanswered, saying a lack of response would mean admitting defeat to Israel, the three officials said.
“Iran’s response to the Zionist aggression is definite,” said Gen. Ali Fadavi, the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps deputy commander, according to Iranian media.
“We have never left an aggression unanswered in 40 years. We are capable of destroying all that the Zionists possess with one operation,” he added.
Israel carried out a four-hour operation last Friday consisting of 100 jets, spy planes and refueling aircraft to conduct its largest-ever strike on Iran, bombing military facilities tied to the Islamic Republic’s own ballistic missile barrages against the Jewish state.