TEHRAN: Iran is preparing a “response” to Israel, confirmed Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to the country’s supreme leader, in an interview published by Iran’s Tasnim news agency on Sunday. The statement hints at a measured yet determined course of action amid escalating tensions between the two nations.
Larijani, addressing a question on potential Iranian retaliation following recent Israeli actions, said that Iranian authorities are carefully considering their response. He suggested that Iran aims to “restore deterrence” against Israel and that this remains a priority. “That (restoring deterrence) is a key issue. Relevant authorities are pursuing the issue carefully to ensure that Iran’s (future) response to Israel fulfils these specifications,” Larijani told Tasnim.
He further noted that decisions about a response should be left to Iran’s military leadership, adding, “In general, this is an issue that we should allow relevant military officials to take the right decision. I know that they are thinking about different ways to reach that (decision).”
The Iranian official underscored that the process requires careful deliberation and confidentiality, emphasizing its importance to Iran’s national security.
Rising tensions after recent attack
The backdrop to Larijani’s remarks includes recent clashes between the two countries. On October 26, Israeli fighter jets conducted three waves of airstrikes on Iranian military targets, a move seen as a response to Iran’s earlier missile attack, in which around 200 ballistic missiles were fired toward Israel.
In a separate escalation, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called for legal action against Israel’s political and military leadership. Khamenei, in a post on X, labelled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant as the “captains of [the] criminal Zionist regime” and supported an ongoing arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against them.
