Next Response ‘in a Matter of Seconds’

TEHRAN -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said here Teusday the Zionists will only come to know the true scale and intensity of Iran’s military response if they decide for a new attack on Iran.
His remarks during a meeting with deputy head of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council of Lebanon Sheikh Ali al-Khatib came amid reports that the Zionist regime may attack Iran after the Islamic Republic’s retaliation of Israel’s assassination of military advisors in Damascus.
“In case of any mistake, the Zionists and their sponsors will come to know the meaning of Iran’s real and extensive response,” Raisi said.
Israel’s war cabinet was set to meet for the third time in three days on Tuesday, an official said, to decide on a response to Iran’s first-ever direct attack, amid international pressure to avoid further escalating Middle East conflicts.
Military chief of staff Herzi Halevi had promised that Saturday night’s launch of more than 300 missiles, cruise missiles and drones from Iran at the Zionist regime “will be met with a response”.
Iran launched the attack in retaliation for an Israel airstrike on its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1 attributed to Israel, but signaled that it did not seek further escalation.
President Joe Biden reportedly told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the weekend that the United States, Israel’s main protector, would not participate in an Israeli strike.
Together with European allies, Washington instead strove on Tuesday to toughen economic and political sanctions against Iran.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani had told national TV on Monday night that Tehran’s response to any Israeli counterattack would come in “a matter of seconds, as Iran will not wait for another 12 days to respond”.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby declined on Monday to say whether Biden had urged Netanyahu in talks on Saturday night to exercise restraint in responding to Iran.
“We don’t want to see a war with Iran. We don’t want to see a regional conflict,” Kirby told a briefing.
Some analysts said the Biden administration is unlikely to seek to sharpen sanctions on Iran’s oil exports due to worries about a big spike in oil prices and angering top buyer China.
In a call between the Chinese and Iranian foreign ministers, China said it believed Iran could “handle the situation well and spare the region further turmoil” while safeguarding its sovereignty and dignity, according to Chinese state media.
Khatib said he was conveying a message of gratitude from the Lebanese people to Iran for its strong military action against the Zionist regime.
The Lebanese cleric said Iran had made Muslim nations proud by

its steadfastness against pressures, sanctions and animosities over the years.

Khatib said other country in the region has ever managed to stand so firmly against a regime which is enjoying support from all powers of the world.

President Raisi told Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Monday that the slightest action against Iran’s interests will be met with an “extensive and painful response”.

The president underlined the need for deterrence, especially by Muslim countries, against the occupying regime of Israel which keeps committing crimes in Gaza.

“The Zionists’ child-killing, genocide and horrific crimes have continued with the full support of the US and some Western states, while the oppressed and powerful people of Gaza are still victorious in the battlefield thanks to their resistance.”

Sheikh Tamim praised Iran’s tactful measure in designing and carrying out the retaliatory operation against Israel, saying it sent a clear message to everyone.

As the globe is witnessing the highest level of convergence in support of the Palestinian cause, the Zionist regime is escalating tensions in a bid to divert the world’s public opinion from its Gaza crimes, he said.

Sheikh Tamim hailed the unique relations between Iran and Qatar that are based on mutual trust, saying the two countries have been supporting each other in all circumstances.

Iran’s armed forces spokesman on Monday warned the Zionist regime and its Western backers against crossing the Islamic Republic’s red lines.

“We remind some of the heads of state of the United States, the UK, France, and Germany to stop their support for the moribund regime of roguish, lawless, terrorist, and child-killing Israel,” Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi said.

The Islamic Republic, he said, has proven not to be warlike and does not seek expansion of warfare.

“However, if anyone, including you and that desperate and helpless regime, oversteps the mark, we will cut off its feet with a more powerful response than the previous one that we served the aggressive and roguish Israel,” he added.

Shekarchi noted that the Iranian retaliation saw the country’s missiles and drones evading the regime’s and its supporters’ advanced radar systems and its “so-called Iron Dome.”

The operation, during which “we plowed through the bogus and criminal regime’s military fortresses,” represented only “a fraction of” the Iranian military’s might, he added.

The spokesman advised Israel’s Western backers to “be wise” and “not throw yourselves into a burning furnace”.

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Next Response ‘in a Matter of Seconds’