Rezaei: If Israel Attempts Anything, We Will Annihilate Tel Aviv

Mohsen Rezaei, the Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran, joined other officials of the Islamic Republic on Monday, February 19, responding to recent statements by the Israeli Prime Minister. According to Rezaei, who has previously been the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), 'if Israel attempts to do anything,' the Islamic Republic will 'level Tel Aviv to the ground.' Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, in a speech at the Munich Security Conference, displayed parts of an 'Iranian drone' that was shot down by Israel, stating, 'If necessary, Israel will act against Iran.' Reports from Israeli media indicate that Netanyahu emphasized that his country would not tolerate Iran's military presence in Syria, adding, 'We will not allow the Syrian government to put a noose around our neck.' Israel has expressed serious concerns for months about the 'consolidation of Iran's military presence in Syria' and has claimed that Tehran has built a precision missile production facility for Hezbollah in Lebanon. Damascus and Tehran consider Iran's military presence in Syria legal and based on legitimate Tehran-Damascus agreements. Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior international advisor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, stated last week that Iran's presence in Syria will continue based on these agreements. In response to Netanyahu's statements, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, described the Israeli official's accusations against Iran as a 'cartoon circus' and added that his words were not even 'worthy of a response.' Now, according to Mehr News Agency, Rezaei has also reacted to the Israeli Prime Minister's remarks, directly responding that 'we tell them they are wrong to take any action.' He continued: 'If you attempt to do anything, we will not even give you a chance to escape, and we will level Tel Aviv to the ground.' Officials of the Islamic Republic, from the President to members of Parliament and IRGC commanders, have repeatedly threatened to annihilate Tel Aviv, a threat that has led the Israeli government to label Iran as an existential enemy. Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC Quds Force, also stated last Wednesday at the tenth anniversary of the death of Imad Mughniyeh, the military commander of Hezbollah, in Tehran that 'the retribution for Imad Mughniyeh's blood is not the firing of a missile and killing one person; the retribution for these bloods is the destruction of the Zionist regime (Israel).' This statement drew a negative reaction from Russia's Foreign Minister, a regional ally of Iran. Sergey Lavrov criticized Soleimani's remarks about the 'inevitability of Israel's destruction' as unacceptable during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif. According to Russian and Israeli media, Lavrov emphasized that statements about erasing Israel from the map of the world are not acceptable.