TEHRAN – In a stark warning to Israel, Tehran has said it will give a “strong and massive” response to any Israeli aggression against Iran’s national interests, according to Aljazeera.

“Israel must know that our response to aggression against our national security will be strong and massive,” Aljazeera quoted an Iranian official as saying on Saturday afternoon.

“Israel is looking for excuses to drag the region into a tension that creates chaos in the last days of the Trump presidency,” the official told Aljazeera.
 
The Iranian warning came against a backdrop of heightened tensions between Iran and Israel and the United States, just a few days before the first martyrdom anniversary of Iran’s top military official Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in an American drone strike near Baghdad airport on January 3. 2020 while visiting Iraq.

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), who accompanied Lieutenant General Soleimani upon his arrival in Baghdad, was also assassinated.

The strike was ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump, a reckless move that brought Iran and the United States close to an all-out war as General Soleimani was an influential figure in Iran and beyond. In response, Iran showered a U.S. airbase in western Iran with missiles, causing brain injury among dozens of American servicemen.

However, Iran has said time and again that the ultimate revenge for the assassination of General Soleimani would be far more important than a missile strike on a U.S. base. It would be the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the region.

In his recent meeting with a group of the organizers for commemorating the martyrdom anniversary of General Haj Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, said that the missile strike on the American airbase of Ain al-Asad was another slap on the face of America. But the tougher slap, the Leader said, would be the soft victory over the superficial hegemony of arrogance and the expulsion of the Americas from the region.

The Leader also vowed revenge for the martyrs of the Resistance Front.

“Millions attending Martyrs Soleimani and Abu Mahdi’s funerals in Iraq and Iran was the first severe slap to the U.S. But the worse one is overcoming the hegemony of arrogance and expelling the U.S. from the region. Of course, revenge will be taken on those who ordered it and the murderers,” the Leader stated.

As Iran and Iraq are preparing to commemorate the anniversary of the assassination of General Soleimani and al-Muhandis, in a provocative move intended to escalate tensions in the region the U.S. has sent a submarine to the Persian Gulf and reportedly Israel is following suit.

On Monday, the U.S. announced the arrival of the nuclear-powered submarine USS Georgia in the Persian Gulf. The submarine is equipped with Tomahawk missiles. The U.S. has just four Ohio class guided-missile submarines, none of which has traveled to the Persian Gulf in eight years.

Israel has also reportedly sent a submarine to the Persian Gulf, according to The Washington Post. The American newspaper said an Israeli submarine has embarked for the Persian Gulf, crossing through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. The Washington Post said the above-water, fully visible Israeli deployment into the Suez Canal and then the Red Sea was “a clear warning to Iran” following the assassination of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in late November.

On November 27 at 14:30, the convoy of Fakhrizadeh suddenly came under attack on a highway in the small city of Absard in Damavand County, about 40 kilometers east of the capital Tehran. The scientist lost his life during the attack. Iranian officials were quick to point the finger at Israel, which has carried out many assassination operations against Iranian nuclear scientists over the past decade. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet on the day of the assassination that the attack was carried out with “serious indications of Israeli role.” Since then, several Iranian officials have vowed to take revenge against Israel.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has also pointed the finger at Israel and vowed revenge for the assassinated scientist but he said Iran will not fall into the trap of Israel.

“All think tanks and all enemies of Iran should know well that the Iranian nation and the country’s authorities are more courageous and zealous than to let this criminal act go unanswered. The relevant authorities will respond to this crime at the proper time,” Rouhani was quoted by state news agency IRNA one day after the assassination.

The Iranian president noted, “The Iranian nation is wiser and smarter than to fall in the trap of the Zionists (Israel). They are after chaos and sedition. They should understand that we know their plans and they will not achieve their ominous goals.”

PA/PA