Iran Warns US and Israel: Any Attack on Infrastructure Will Be Met with Retaliation

Tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated again this week following an exchange of attacks. Iran’s government has warned the US and its close ally, Israel, that it will deliver a proportionate response if either nation strikes its infrastructure. Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, stated that any attack on infrastructure would be retaliated against, including by targeting Israel. His remarks, broadcast by state television on Friday, came amid a renewed flare-up in fighting between Tehran and Washington this week. “Any attack on infrastructure will be met with a response, and the criminal Zionist regime responsible for these atrocities will not be safe from the response of our fighters,” Zolghadr said. The fighting intensified this week in the most significant exchange of fire since the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on 17 June, intended to formalise an April ceasefire and guide talks to end the war completely. The US military carried out heavy strikes overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, claiming to have targeted 90 military sites. However, the Islamic Republic of Iran accused Washington of also targeting civilian infrastructure to divert attention from the funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. According to Iran, bridges and railway lines between the capital, Tehran, and Khamenei’s birthplace, Mashhad—where he was buried on Thursday—were hit. Iranian authorities reported 17 people were killed in the US strikes. The office of Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Israeli prime minister spoke on Thursday with the US president, who briefed him on the latest American measures in the Gulf. Later on Thursday evening, Iranian state media reported a US-Israeli strike on a military base near Bushehr, the site of Iran’s only civilian nuclear power plant. Earlier, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that Israel was prepared to continue its military campaign against Iran if necessary, vowing to do so “with even greater force.”