Iran has vowed to react after an airstrike that destroyed its embassy in Syria earlier this week, killing 12 people—including two Iranian generals—and was generally attributed to Israel, according to a top military officer on Saturday.
Iran will choose when and how to carry out an “operation” to exact revenge, General Mohammad Bagheri, the country’s joint chief of staff, informed the mourners during General Mohammad Reza Zahdi’s funeral.
The highest-ranking commander to be slain in the attack on Monday was General Zahdi.
In the long-running shadow war between the two bitter adversaries, the attack on an Iranian diplomatic compound marked a significant uptick, and Israel has been preparing for an Iranian reaction.
Twelve persons were murdered in all, including four Syrians, seven members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and one member of the Hezbollah group.
“We will determine the timing, nature, and strategy of the operation in a way that causes Israel to regret its actions,” General Bagheri declared. “It will be done without a doubt.”
Amidst the six-month-old Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, tensions have escalated, igniting worries of a wider regional battle. Iran’s proxies include the Islamic militant group Hamas, which has occupied Gaza for 17 years, as well as the Hezbollah force in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Hezbollah and the Houthis have both launched strikes on the periphery of the Gaza conflict; Hezbollah and Israel have regular cross-border confrontations, while the Houthis often target commerce in the Red Sea.
About 440 kilometers (270 miles) south of Tehran, the capital, in Isfahan, the hometown of Gen. Zahedi, is where Gen. Bagheri made the remarks.
