‘The criminal US must know that in addition to punishing its illegitimate and aggressive offspring (Israel), the hands of Islam’s fighters within the armed forces have been freed to take any action against its interests and military, and we will never back down in this regard,’ Abdolrahim Mousavi, the new chief of staff of Iranian armed forces, said in a statement yesterday.
Iran’s top military general vowed to continue retaliatory operations against the Israeli regime ‘with full force’ until Benjamin Netanyahu is brought to ‘utter helplessness.’
In a video statement on Monday, shortly after the 21st phase of Operation True Promise III was launched by the Iranian armed forces, Mousavi said the operations will continue uninterrupted.
Major General Mousavi said the crimes committed by the Israeli regime and the United States ‘will not go unanswered’ regardless of the extent of damage inflicted by the enemy.
‘The very nature of this criminal act will not remain without a response, irrespective of the level of destruction,’ the top general said, referring to the American aggression against Iranian nuclear facilities early on Sunday in brazen violation of international law.
He characterised US President Donald Trump’s involvement in the war against Iran as a desperate effort to rescue the Zionist regime, particularly Netanyahu, whom he described as America’s ‘failing proxy’ in the region.
‘Trump, having witnessed Netanyahu’s collapse under the weight of defeat, decided to give him artificial respiration through this reckless act,’ Major General Mousavi said.
US bombers, on the direct orders of Trump, targeted three nuclear facilities across Iran – Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow – Sunday morning, drawing widespread outrage.
In a sign of the confusion dominating the US Republican government following its attacks on Iran on Saturday night, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday morning that the US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites were ‘not about regime change’.
Later, Trump said in a social media post that ‘if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???’.
Iran is prepared to continue fighting for as long as it is necessary, Saeed Khatibzadeh, deputy minister of foreign affairs for education and research, has said.
He said Iran has been acting to stop Israel’s ‘outrageous and reckless and rogue activities’.
Khatibzadeh said the country is ‘very much determined to push back’ the ‘unjust’ and ‘unprovoked’ Israeli attacks that began on June 13. ‘We are going to continue. We are ready to go up to the end. Iran will decide on how, when and at which level to respond to (the) Americans,’ he said.
The minister described the US bombing of nuclear sites such as Fordow as a ‘grave mistake’ that was in breach of international law.
Hossein Kermanpour, the head of public relations at Iran’s Health Ministry said at least 13 children have been killed since Israel started attacking.