TEHRAN - During a gathering on Saturday, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Division, mentioned that Israel was left despondent following the Leader of the Islamic Revolution's declaration that Iran would ensure the regime "regrets" its assault on the Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1.

“After the speech of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, the Israelis realized that Iran's response was definite. They began to threaten through intermediaries, but after a few days when they realized that Iran does not pay attention to threats and seeks a response, not through resistance forces but from within its own territory, they resorted to pleas and requested neighboring countries to ask Iran to respond lightly,” the commander disclosed. 

Israel’s attack on the Iranian consulate was condemned by most countries except for the regime’s Western patrons as a blatant violation of international law. The strike carried out with the help of fighter jets resulted in the martyrdom of a high-ranking IRGC commander and his deputy. 

Tehran responded to the unprecedented assault by carrying out a large-scale drone and missile operation dubbed “True Promise” against military positions in the occupied territories on April 14. It successfully destroyed the bases that were used in the consulate attack, even while the U.S., Britain, France, and Jordan were also aiding the regime in intercepting Iranian projectiles. 

General Hajizadeh said Israel made a miscalculation in its decision to carry out the April 1 assault, as it believed that it wouldn’t receive a harsh response from Iran. “Iranian officials do not seek war, but they have red lines that the Israelis did not consider and did not expect Iran to respond,” he said. 

The commander explained that the regime only decided to strike Iran’s embassy after it failed to gain any strategic advances in Gaza or against Hezbollah in the northern parts of the occupied territories. “Through their assessments, Israel realized that it was in a deadlock in Palestine, so they intended to attack Hezbollah. However, since the risk was high, they attacked Iran's consulate to martyr several IRGC commanders in a region that belongs to Iran's territory, in order to achieve a strategic victory.”

The IRGC official hailed Iran’s Leader for his farsighted and courageous decision to teach Israel a lesson. “If it were not for the resolve of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, no one would have dared to carry out such an action. This operation, just as it was a strategic victory for us, added another defeat to Israel's list of defeats,” he noted. 

Elsewhere in his comments, General Hajizadeh highlighted the prospects of Israel’s imminent collapse. “In the past 9 months, the Israelis have only managed to martyr children and women, and their only victory was a tactical one, which does not compensate for their strategic defeat. Therefore, their existence is now in jeopardy,” he noted. 
 
Israel’s brutal and callous war in the besieged Gaza Strip in the past 8 months is considered a failed military campaign by analysts across the world, as the regime is nowhere near “eradicating Hamas” despite the loss of public opinion.