Iran’s IRGC chief vows to ‘open the gates of hell’ if US, Israel make ‘wrong move’
Salami says next potential attack would overshadow last year’s missile strikes, claims Israel pushing Washington into Middle East war
The head of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Thursday threatened to “open the gates of hell” on Israel and the United States if the countries attack his country, warning Washington that its ally was pushing it into war.
“These are serious warnings to Zionist officials, to US officials. The criminal prime minister of the Zionist regime talks a lot these days, threatens Iran,” IRGC chief Hossein Salami said in a speech, according to the Iran International news site.
“I’m issuing a serious warning: If you make one wrong move, we will open up the gates of hell on you,” Salami added. “Sit down and stay in your place…we have made extensive preparations.”
“If you make a mistake, we’ll act on you in a way that you forget the True Promise 1 and 2,” he added, referring to two direct Iranian attacks on Israel last year.
“If the US threatens us on the nuclear issue, Iran is prepared for war at all levels and in all arenas,” Salami also said, according to Hebrew media reports. He added, accusing Israel of working to increase tensions between the countries: “Israel is pushing the United States into war in the region, but Washington needs to understand that such a war would be a great loss for it.”
The remarks came after US President Donald Trump indicated Wednesday that he is seeking to “blow up” Iran’s nuclear centrifuges through an agreement, but is also prepared to blow them up in an attack if necessary.
The US and Iran are conducting talks over limiting Iran’s nuclear program, but the US administration’s desired outcome for the talks is unclear, with some officials saying they are prepared to allow Iran to have limited nuclear fuel enrichment capabilities, while others have said that they want the nuclear program completely destroyed.
Iranian officials have asserted that they will never dismantle their nuclear centrifuges.
The US and other Western countries have long accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons — a claim Tehran denies, insisting that its atomic program is solely for civilian purposes. But Iran, which openly seeks Israel’s destruction, has ramped up its enrichment of uranium to 60 percent purity, which has no peaceful application, and has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a warning to Iran on Tuesday after the Israeli military bombed targets belonging to the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen for a second day, destroying the international airport in Sanaa.
“I have said many times that whoever attacks Israel — his blood will be on his own head,” says Netanyahu, noting his promise that there would be multiple “blows” in response to a Houthi missile that struck inside the grounds of Ben Gurion International Airport on Sunday.
He said the choice and timing of targets was meant to punish the Houthis, but also to send a message to Iran, “without whose approval and long-term support, the Houthis could not carry out the criminal missile attack against us.”
Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel in April 2024, firing some 300 attack drones and missiles in response to the killing of several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members in an airstrike near Tehran’s consulate in Damascus.
Months later, in October, Iran launched some 200 ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for the killings of Hassan Nasrallah and Ismail Haniyeh, the leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, respectively.
In both instances, the Iranian assaults were largely thwarted by Israel’s air defenses in cooperation with the US and its regional allies. Israel twice bombed Iran in response, the second time destroying much of its air defense systems as well as some rocket and drone manufacturing sites.
The Times of Israel Community.