TEHRAN- Iran’s top military commander assured that retaliation for the Israeli attack on Iran’s diplomatic mission in Damascus is certain, emphasizing that Tehran will determine the timing and method of the response.

Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, spoke on Saturday at the funeral of Major General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a high-ranking IRGC commander martyred in the Israeli airstrike on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus on April 1.

In response to calls for retaliation, the top military commander stated that the Israeli assault will not go unanswered. 

He emphasized that Iran will determine the timing and method of its retaliation. 

The response to the Israeli attack will be carried out with precision, causing the Zionist regime to regret its actions. 

Major General Baqeri described the attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus as a self-destructive move by Israel and stated that the sacrifice of Iranian military personnel will hasten Israel’s downfall. 

He also pointed out that the U.S. bears primary responsibility for the attack in Damascus and must face consequences. 

Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, conveyed a message on Tuesday affirming that Iran will ensure the Zionist regime regrets its actions.

He added, “We have gathered in the funeral ceremony of a martyr who was a comrade and permanent companion of martyr Soleimani, martyr Hamadani, martyr Emad Moghniyeh, and all the great martyrs of the liberation of Al-Quds and confrontation with the Zionist regime.” 

“The great nation of Iran and the free nations of the world yesterday created an extraordinary day in the history of the Islamic Revolution and the world with the Operation Al-Quds Storm, and the blood of martyr Zahedi and his comrades on the Day of Quds will let the criminal America and the oppressive and child-killing Zionists know that the days of this regime are numbered and its destruction is inevitable,” General Baqeri said. 

The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces stated that a review of the shameful 75-year history of the Zionist regime shows two distinct periods, reminding: The first period is a period of rise and peak, and the second period is a period of decline and fall. The Zionists and the international Zionist agencies seized the land of Al-Quds, the first Qibla of Muslims, after creating a cruel regime following their work and establishment based on the ambiguous Holocaust massacre in Europe.

Major General Baqeri stated that during the leadership of Imam Khamenei, with the formation and establishment of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps at his command, a new vitality emerged in the formation of Islamic resistance. 

He continued by saying that Operation Al-Quds Storm as a decisive operation on October 7th of last year revealed a small part of this large iceberg, an unparalleled flawless operation carried out by over a thousand combatants and an organization that had been under complete siege for over 15 years in a small strip. They launched a surprise attack on the armed Zionists and brought this disaster upon them, inflicting a special defeat on them.

He mentioned that those who had doubts about the true nature of America and Europe saw it in the case of Gaza, stating, “You see a small portion of the oppression they face, while conditions in Gaza are worse. After 6 months of constant bombardment of this small land, the Zionists did not achieve any of their goals.”

The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces continued that “after 82 days of war, Gaza’s resistance continues. Rockets are still being launched at the Zionists, tanks are being hit, aggressors are being killed by Palestinian soldiers, and the resistance persists. The end of the war with Gaza is clear, the defeat of the Zionists is definitive, they have no way forward or backward, and their exit from this crisis has become a crisis for them.”

He also noted that “whatever the Zionist regime does, it is done in a downward spiral and out of desperation. The operations it carries out are only things that slip through its fingers. It does not have an active defensive plan because it is doing a low-value job out of compulsion and resorting to madness.”

“Aerial and missile attacks on a consulate as a diplomatic mission with immunity, what meaning does it have other than madness against international treaties? It is self-harm and suicide. If there was any remaining dignity for politicians of Israel, it has been lost with this action,” he added. 

General Baqeri stressed that “this action is an act of desperation and passivity, and it will not remain unanswered by us. Our dear leader said we will make the enemy regret it, and our brave men will take necessary revenge.”