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On September 25th, Israeli Intelligence Services Minister Israel Katz warned that there would be a harsh response if Iran attacks Israel.
This follows a terrorist attack in the Iranian city of Ahvaz which killed at least 25 people and wounded 60 on September 22nd.
“Israel had no involvement in the Iran explosion,” Katz said. “But if they attack us, we will respond with full force.”
The minister in charge of Israel’s intelligence agencies also predicted that “the regime of Ayatollahs in Iran would soon disappear.”
Katz also threatened Hezbollah, saying that if it attacks Israel, its leader Hassan Nasrallah would be harmed and “Lebanon will pay a heavy price and will return many generations backward.”
Katz also said that “if the Iranian undermining does not stop, Israel will be forced to continue doing everything possible to defend itself,” regarding Iran’s involvement in Syria.
As reported by the Jerusalem Post, he said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government was exclusively responsible for the downing of the Russian IL-20 jet and the death of the 15 passengers.
On September 22nd, both the Ahwazieh movement and ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. The ISIS Amaq agency posted a video of three men who said they were on their way to carry out an attack on the Iranian Military Parade. Despite the two groups claiming responsibility for the attacks, Iran denies the ISIS involvement in the incident. Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarch was cited by IRNA saying that “they are not from Daesh (ISIS) or other groups fighting (Iran’s) Islamic system … but they are linked to America and (Israel’s intelligence agency) Mossad.”
On September 24th, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami warned the terrorists and their masterminds who plotted the Ahvaz attack will face the country’s harsh response. “Terrorists should wait for the revenge of the Iranian nation,” General Hatami said. He was cited by Fars News Agency as condemning the US, Israel and their regional allies for resorting to the terrorist groups to attain their “ominous goals” against Iran.
Earlier on September 24th, Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Brigadier General Hossein Salami referred to an Israeli attack on the T4 airbase in Syria in April 2017, which killed a number of Iranian military advisors. He also claimed that Israel have witnessed Iran’s revenge.
“The Americans should know too and we warn them. The US has failed to establish security for the Zionists and now Hezbollah is able to annihilate the Zionists,” he said.
The Israeli Intelligence Minister further commented on the Gaza strip, saying that Israel would not tolerate any “terror tunnels, missiles, mortars and kites.”
He also complained about the negative media coverage of the new Jerusalem rail line. Palestinians who live in the West Bank are largely barred by Israel from traveling abroad via Ben-Gurion, and cross overland to Jordan instead to flying out of the airport in Amman. Israel cites security concerns for the ban.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Israel of “illegally making use of occupied Palestinian land” in setting the train’s route, which will eventually include a direct high-speed link between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv city. Erekat said the train was part of Israel’s “agenda of turning its occupation into annexation.”
