Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces: Israel’s era is over

On Saturday Iran reiterated its threats to respond to the attack attributed to Israel, which destroyed its consulate building in Damascus and resulted in the martyrdom of seven Revolutionary Guards last Monday.

The Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, said, “The retaliatory operation will be carried out at the appropriate time, with planning, and with maximum damage to the enemy, making him regret his action”.

He added, “We’re the ones who determine the time and plan of the operation”.

Seven members of the Revolutionary Guard, including two senior officers, were killed in an air strike that led to the destruction of the Iranian consulate building in Damascus on Monday.

Iran accused its arch regional enemy Israel of launching the strike, and vowed to respond.

Meanwhile, the total death toll from the Israeli strike that targeted Damascus last Monday reached 16.

Bagheri’s statements came during a funeral ceremony held on Saturday in Isfahan, for Major General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who killed in the attack.

Zahedi was one of the prominent commanders in the Quds Force entrusted with foreign operations in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Zahedi is the most prominent Iranian military leader to be targeted since Major General Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, who was assassinated by a US air strike in Baghdad in January 2020.

Iran held the “Zionist regime” responsible for the Damascus attack, while no statement was issued by Israel in this regard.

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said, “Our brave men will punish the Zionist entity… We’ll make it regret this crime and others”.

Also, the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi pledged to respond to this attack, stressing that “this heinous crime won’t pass without a response”.

In a speech during the funeral ceremony for the seven dead, held Friday in Tehran, the Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Guards, Major General Hossein Salami, renewed his pledge to punish Israel.

He stressed that “any action taken by any enemy against our sacred system won’t go unanswered,” stressing that “the Zionist regime won’t runaway… The consequences and is well aware of what will happen”.