Iran is not expecting a “significant” retaliation from Israel for the missile attack it launched against the country at the start of the month, the former commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has said.
Tehran fired nearly 200 rockets at Israel in response to the killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.
“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 Mohammad Al Jafari.
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.
Mr Jafari commanded the IRGC from 2007-2019.
Israelis protest outside Blinken’s hotel in Tel Aviv
Crowds of protesters have gathered outside the hotel where Antony Blinken is expected to stay in Tel Aviv to demand the release of the remaining hostages from Gaza.
Family members and supporters of those being held captive by Hamas hold signs saying “bring them home” and “stop the war”, as well as pictures of the hostages.
Mr Blinken, the US secretary of state, is on his 11th trip to the Middle East since the start of the conflict in efforts to revive Gaza ceasefire negotiations which fizzled out several weeks ago.
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