Iran has threatened to raze Tel Aviv to the ground and kill Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if Israel makes ‘the slightest unwise move’ against the country.
The explicit threat came after Netanyahu warned that Israel would ‘act against Iran itself’ if the country continued to invade their airspace, something which Tehran denies.
The Israeli leader took to the stage during the Munich Security Conference last week, brandishing what he claimed to be a part of an Iranian drone.
Explicit warning: Senior official Mohsen Rezaee threatened to raze Tel Aviv to the ground and kill Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if Israel makes ‘the slightest unwise move’ against Iran
Saying he had ‘a message to the tyrants of Tehran’, Prime Minister Netanyahu warned: ‘Do not test Israel’s resolve.’
‘We will act if necessary, not just against Iran’s proxies that are attacking us but against Iran itself.’
In response, Mohsen Rezaee, secretary of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, an assembly appointed by Supreme Leader Atatolla Khamenei which supervises the government, made similar promises of military action.
However, he took it one step further, and made an explicit threat against Netanyahu’s life.
Response: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds up an object what he claimed was a piece of an Iranian drone shot down in Israeli airspace as he gives a speech during the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Sunday
Strong words: Netanyahu claimed Iran was trying to move in and replace ISIS in Syria and Iraq
‘About Netanyahu’s unwise words, I should say that if they carry out the slightest unwise move against Iran, we will level Tel Aviv to the ground,’ Rezaee told al-Manar TV according to Times of Israel.
Rezaei added that Tehran ‘will not give Netanyahu any opportunity to flee.’
The drone Israel claims belonged to Tehran was shot down on February 10 after it entered the country from Syria.
Israel responded with a raid on what Tel Aviv claims were the Iranian control systems for the craft in Syria.
Tehran has denied that the drone belonged to Iran.
Israel has said it shot down the drone on February 10 after it entered the country from Syria, and responded with a raid on what it said was the Iranian control systems for the craft in Syria
During the strikes last week, one of Israel’s F-16 fighter jets was shot down, believed to be the first loss of an Israeli plane in combat since 1982.
Speaking in Munich last week, Netanyahu claimed that Iran was trying to take the place of terror organisation Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
‘The unfortunate thing is that as ISIS compresses and Iran moves in, it is trying to establish this continuous empire surrounding the Middle East from the south in Yemen but also trying to create a land bridge from Iran to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Gaza.’
During the strikes last week, one of Israel’s F-16 fighter jets was shot down, believed to be the first loss of an Israeli plane in combat since 1982.
Israel’s response marked the first time it publicly acknowledged hitting Iranian targets in Syria since the 2011 start of the civil war there.