Khamenei's Military Advisor: We Will Strike Riyadh with a Thousand Missiles on the First Day of Saudi Attack on Iran

The senior military advisor to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic threatened that if Saudi Arabia takes military action against Iran, "on the first day, a thousand missiles will destroy the royal palaces of this country in Riyadh." Yahya Rahim Safavi claimed in a speech in Shiraz on Sunday, July 3, that "Iran is the leading power in the region," and according to him, "no issue will be resolved without Iran's presence." In response to a question about a Saudi attack on Iran, he threatened that "if they make a mistake, on the very first day, a thousand missiles will be fired at them and their palaces in Riyadh." Mr. Rahim Safavi also stated that Hezbollah in Lebanon has become a "permanent threat" to Israel with its 80,000 missiles. Previously, Iranian and Saudi officials had threatened each other with military action. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, had threatened on October 8, 2015, in a harsh reaction to the Mina incident in Saudi Arabia, that if Iran were to react, it would be severe and harsh. In contrast, Mohammed bin Salman, the current Minister of Defense and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, stated in an interview with MBC on May 1 last year that Iran seeks to dominate Muslim countries, and therefore, negotiations with Tehran are not possible. He emphasized that Riyadh would not wait for war to come to Saudi Arabia and would instead work to bring the battle to Iran. The Iranian Minister of Defense also threatened on May 17, 2017, that if Saudi Arabia took any action in this regard, "we will leave nothing intact except for Mecca and Medina." Relations between Tehran and Riyadh have soured in recent years following the civil wars in Yemen and Syria. After extremist forces attacked the Saudi embassy and consulate in Tehran and Mashhad and set them on fire in December 2015, relations between the two countries were severed. This incident occurred after Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shia cleric named Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Prior to that, the deaths of several Iranian pilgrims in the Mina incident had intensified the Islamic Republic's officials' attacks on Saudi Arabia.