Iran has threatened to “raze Tel Aviv and Haifa” amid concerns that it is planning attacks on Israelis and Israeli targets abroad.
“Upon an order of the Supreme Leader of the [Islamic] Revolution, we will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground for any mistake made by the enemy (Israel),” the commander of the Iranian Army’s ground forces, Kiumars Heydari, said on Tuesday, according to the Fars News Agency, the news agency in Iran managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Heydari also said, according to Fars, that “the Israeli-occupied territories will be liberated in less than 25 years.” Those occupied territories could mean all of Israel. He noted that the range of the Islamic Republic’s drones and missiles has increased, indicating that they could pose a threat to Israel.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday during a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that “The days of immunity, in which Iran attacks Israel and spreads terrorism via its regional proxies but remains unscathed – are over. We are taking action, everywhere, at any time, and will continue to do so.” He also said that, in recent years, “Iran has crossed a series of red lines, especially in enriching uranium at a level of 60% – without a response and the world goes on. Israel cannot – and will not – accept such a situation.”
Bennett said that he told International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi during their meeting on Friday that “we are acting, and will continue to reserve the freedom to take such action against the Iranian nuclear program as may be necessary, at any time, with or without an agreement. Nothing will tie our hands. We are not just saying this but are also upholding it.”