Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has vowed to annihilate Israel should it launch a major attack on Iran.
Raisi’s threats came Tuesday on the same day Tehran protested the European Union decision to expand sanctions and restrictive measures on Iran’s weapons.
The Iranian President said an Israeli attack on Iranian territory could radically change dynamics and result in there being nothing left of the “Zionist regime,” according to Reuters.
Raisi began a three-day visit to Pakistan on Monday and has vowed to boost trade between the neighboring nations to $10 billion a year.
The two neighbors are seeking to mend ties after unprecedented tit-for-tat military strikes this year.
On Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian posted on X, “It is regrettable to see the EU deciding quickly to apply more unlawful restrictions against Iran just because Iran exercised its right to self-defense in the face of Israel’s reckless aggression.”
“The EU should not follow Washington’s advice to satisfy the criminal Israeli regime,” he added, according to AFP.
This comes one day after EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell declared that the bloc has agreed in principle to expand sanctions on Iran by agreeing to extend restrictive measures on Tehran’s weapons exports of any drone or missile to Iranian proxies and Russia.
The new EU sanctions came nearly 10 days after Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel, involving hundreds of drones and missiles, though almost all were shot down by Israel and its allies.
The Iranian barrage was in response to a deadly April 1 airstrike, widely blamed on Israel, that levelled Iran’s consulate in Damascus and killed seven Revolutionary Guards members, including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a top commander in Syria and Lebanon.
Amid fears of a major Israeli retaliation to that attack, which could itself provoke another Iranian response, Israel instead chose a much more limited option in the face of US pressure.
Israel, in line with its usual policy, has not confirmed or denied carrying out the strike on Iran or the April 1 attack in Syria.
Its apparent strike was deliberately limited in scope but sent a clear warning to Iran’s leadership about Israeli abilities to strike at sensitive targets.
On Monday, The New York Times, which cited Israeli and Iranian sources, said the target was the radar system of a Russian-supplied S-300 missile defense system at an airbase in the central province of Isfahan, the region that hosts the Natanz uranium enrichment plant.
The origin of the strike is not entirely clear, but it included at least one missile fired from a warplane outside Iran and small attack drones known as quadcopters that could have been launched from inside Iran itself and were aimed at confusing air defenses, the reports said.
For decades the two countries have waged a shadow war marked by covert Israeli operations inside Iran, and Iranian backing for anti-Israel militant groups including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iranian officials have been at pains to almost laugh off the Israeli strike, with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian telling NBC News the weapons used were at the “level of toys.”
But Alexander Grinberg, expert on Iran at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, said Israel’s choice and designation of target was in itself indicative of the presence Mossad has inside Iran.
“Israel’s message is ‘We can strike anywhere in Iran’ given that Isfahan is in the centre of Iran, relatively far away, and Israel knows exactly where it can strike,” he said.
Grinberg said it was logical that Iran has not confirmed that the air base was hit: “From the moment you recognise the true scale of damage, you admit the power of the enemy.”
While the current escalation phase appears to be over, Israel could yet launch more retaliation against Iran, and tensions may also surge again if Israel launches its long-threatened offensive on Rafah in Gaza.
