Israel is unlikely to make a “significant move” against Tehran but could instead mount a symbolic limited attack, Revolutionary Guards cultural and social commander Mohammad Ali Jafari said on Tuesday, according to the Iranian Student News Network.
Israel is widely thought to be planning retaliation for a missile barrage launched by Iran on Oct. 1.
“Israel is too small to be able to attack Iran, although it may carry out a desperate, limited, and small attack to say it has retaliated, but it will definitely not carry out an offensive (strike) similar to ours,” said Jafari, the former commander in chief of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.
He added that Iran’s response would depend on the intensity of Israel’s retaliation, and that if Israel ended up carrying out a significant attack, Iran would respond with a higher-intensity offensive against Israel.
Jafari commanded the Revolutionary Guards from 2007-2019.
The FBI meanwhile is investigating the public disclosure of a pair of highly classified intelligence documents describing Israel’s preparations for a retaliatory strike on Iran, the bureau said on Tuesday.
“The FBI is investigating the alleged leak of classified documents and working closely with our partners in the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community,” it said in a statement.
White House spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that it has not been determined whether the disclosure was a hack or a leak. President Joe Biden was watching the results of the investigation closely, he added.
“We’re not exactly sure how these documents found their way into the public domain,” Kirby told reporters.
“The president remains deeply concerned about any leakage of classified information into the public domain. That is not supposed to happen, and it’s unacceptable when it does,” he said.
The documents appear to have been prepared by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, describing U.S. interpretations of Israeli Air Force and Navy planning based on satellite imagery from Oct. 15-16.
They began circulating last week on the Telegram messaging app. Israel has been planning a response to a ballistic-missile barrage carried out by Iran on Oct. 1, Tehran’s second direct attack on Israel in six months. Israel has intensified its offensive in Gaza and Lebanon, days after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
