Iran’s retaliation to any Israeli aggression will be “more forceful and destructive” than in past offensives, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Hossein Salami told state media on Thursday, after Tehran said it had been alerted of a potential attack.
Israel and Iran exchanged fire twice last year, the first such direct attacks between the region’s most entrenched enemies.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday US personnel were being moved out of the Middle East because it could become a dangerous place, adding that the United States would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday that a “friendly” regional country had alerted Tehran over a potential military strike by Israel.
The official also said that Iran will not abandon its right to uranium enrichment because of mounting frictions in the region.
“We don’t want tensions and prefer diplomacy to resolve the (nuclear) issue, but our armed forces are fully ready to respond to any military strike,” the Iranian official said.
With Reuters
