Iranian president threatens Israel’s annihilation if major attack occurs
During visit to Pakistan, Raisi says ‘Zionist regime’ will be destroyed if Israel attacks, vows to continue supporting ‘the Palestinian resistance’
DUBAI — An Israeli attack on Iranian territory could radically change dynamics and result in there being nothing left of the “Zionist regime,” Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi was quoted as saying on Tuesday by the official IRNA news agency.
Raisi began a three day visit to Pakistan on Monday, and has vowed to boost trade between the neighboring nations to $10 billion a year.
The two Muslim neighbors are seeking to mend ties after unprecedented tit-for-tat military strikes this year.
Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel on April 13 in what it said was retaliation for Israel’s suspected deadly strike on a consular building in Damascus on April 1, but almost all were shot down.
On Friday, explosions were heard over the Iranian city of Isfahan in an alleged Israeli attack on a missile defense system, but Tehran played down the incident and said it had no plans for retaliation.
A New York Times report said on Monday that Israel’s original retaliatory plan against Iran included a much wider counterstrike on military targets, including near Tehran.
“Such a broad and damaging attack would have been far harder for Iran to overlook, increasing the chances of a forceful Iranian counterattack,” the paper said.
Israel has not officially acknowledged responsibility for the counterstrike, though several of its leaders have intimated responsibility. Iran has played down the significance of the response and not directly blamed Israel, which the Times said was being interpreted as “Iranian reluctance to respond.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will honorably continue to support the Palestinian resistance,” Raisi added in the speech in Lahore, referring to aiding Hamas as it wages war against Israel in Gaza.
Iran and Israel’s decades-long shadow war burst into the open after nearly six months of war in the Gaza Strip, where Israel launched an unprecedented offensive after thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed the country’s south on October 7 to kill nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and take over 250 hostages.
Since October 7, Iran’s proxies in Lebanon and Yemen have targeted Israel as well, which they say is in support of Gaza’s Palestinians. Gaza’s Hamas rulers also receive financial and logistical assistance from Iran.
