Iran issues nuclear warning against Israeli attack

Tel Aviv. A senior Iranian commander has issued Tehran’s first nuclear threat since it launched a missile and drone attack on Israel. With it he seeks to conjure a military retaliation.

Israel has yet to decide – or at least announce – how to respond to last weekend’s Iranian attack, in which Tehran fired more than 300 missiles and drones into its territory.

However, several of the five members of Israel’s war cabinet have alluded to retaliation, despite calls from the country’s Western partners to act with both head and heart.

This Thursday, Commander Ahmad Haghtalab of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard warned that recent threats of a response from Israel “make it possible to review our nuclear doctrine and deviate from our previous considerations.”

He added that if Israel wants to attack its nuclear sites, “we will certainly respond with advanced missiles against its own nuclear sites.”

It is the first time since its attack on Israel that Iran has explicitly referred to its country’s suspected nuclear weapons program.

The day before, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned that even “the most minuscule” invasion of its territory would provoke a “massive and severe” response.

Experts have warned that since Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear pact between Iran and his country, Tehran has acquired the capacity to build a nuclear bomb within six months to a year.

While a senior US official told ABC News that Israel would likely postpone its response to the Iranian attack until after Passover, the highest Jewish holiday, which lasts from last Monday until April 30, senior Israeli officials remain tight-lipped about the issue. their intentions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after meeting this Wednesday with the British Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, stated that it would be his country, and no one else, that would decide if and how to respond.

Meanwhile, Brigadier General Doron Gavish, head of the Israeli air defense task force, said his country has been working overtime to rebuild its reserves in preparation for another possible attack by Iran or its allies.

Meanwhile, the United States and Britain launched wide-ranging sanctions against Iran and its military wing, the Revolutionary Guard, in response to calls from Israeli officials to carry out a “diplomatic strike” in response to the Iranian action.

Washington announced new sanctions on Iran, focused on the production of unarmed aerial vehicles. The Treasury Department reported that the measures refer to 16 individuals and two entities that enable the production of these devices, including engines for vehicles of the Iranian Shahed variant, which were used in the April 13 attack.

US President Joe Biden said that the sanctions show that his country is committed to Israeli security and will continue to hold Iran accountable.

““Let it be clear to all those who encourage or support Iranian attacks: the United States is committed to Israel’s security,” he said.

“We are committed to the safety of our staff and partners in the region. And we will not hesitate to take all necessary steps to hold them accountable.”

Britain has applied sanctions on Iranian military entities, including the general staff of the armed forces and the Revolutionary Guard navy, according to an official notice. The British sanctions target 13 entities or individuals in total, the notice stated.

The European Union also announced that it would increase sanctions on Iran. The decision was made after the first meeting of the 27 EU national leaders held after the Iranian attack last Sunday.

“We feel that it is very important to do everything to isolate Iran,” said Charles Michel, president of the European Council and the summit meeting.

He indicated that the new sanctions against Tehran would target companies involved in the production of drones and missiles.

Regarding the war in Gaza, a conflict that is at the heart of tensions in the Middle East, senior US officials will hold a virtual meeting with their Israeli counterparts to discuss Tel Aviv’s plans for the southern city of Rafah, as Washington seeks alternatives to an Israeli offensive. The meeting would follow up on another held on April 1.

Biden has urged Tel Aviv not to carry out a large-scale offensive in Rafah, to avoid further Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza, where authorities say more than 33,970 Palestinians have been killed and more than 76,770 wounded since the October 7, when Hamas launched its attack on Israeli soil.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians currently reside in Rafah and have nowhere else to go. Large portions of the Gaza Strip have been completely destroyed.