Iran hits back at threats by Mossad chief: ‘You have been hit by us before’
Gianluca Pacchiani is the Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani replies to Mossad chief David Barnea’s threat to strike Iran’s leaders if Israelis or Jews will be harmed, saying, “You have been hit by us before. We will not hesitate to respond to any foolish aggression.”
In a statement reported by Hezbollah’s news agency, al-Mayadeen, the spokesman says Iran will not take lightly threats by any party, including the “Zionist regime,” when ensuring its security.
The Mossad head’s “declared intention to assassinate officials in Iran clearly indicates the nature of the [Zionist] entity and its terrorist face,” Kanaani adds.
On Sunday, Barnea warned Iran’s leaders that they would pay a direct price if Israelis or Jews are harmed, in what he said was an ongoing, state-organized Iranian terror effort worldwide, carried out in accordance with a “political directive by the leader” — an apparent reference to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Speaking at a conference at Reichman University in Herzliya, Barnea revealed that the Mossad and its allies in the international intelligence community have foiled 27 Iranian attacks against Jews and Israelis abroad over the past year, and declared that Israel would exact “a different” price from Iran if Israelis or Jews were harmed.
