Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, right, meets with the late Ismail Haniyeh, former head of the political bureau of Hamas, in Tehran in an undated photo and on Saturday promised a “teeth-breaking” response against Israel and the United States following recent missile exchanges. File Photo by Islamic Republic News Agency IRNA/UPI | License Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saturday the United States and Israel will endure “teeth-breaking” retaliation after Israel struck military sites in Iran in late October.
“The enemies, both the U.S. and the Zionist regime, should know that they will definitely receive a teeth-breaking response for what they are doing against Iran and the resistance front,” Khamenei said while addressing a student group. Advertisement
“We are certainly doing everything necessary to prepare the Iranian nation to stand against arrogance, whether in terms of military readiness, armaments or political actions.”
Iran on Oct. 1 launched a missile strike against Israel that did little damage but prompted Israel to retaliate against Iranian military installations on Oct. 25.
Iran’s missile strike was a retaliatory action against Israel for killing leaders of Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah. Advertisement
Iranian officials might increase the range of missiles to strike deeper in Israel “if the Islamic Republic of Iran faces an existential threat,” Iranian state media reported earlier this week.
As hostilities between Iran and Israel escalate in the Middle East, the United States is sending more ballistic missile defense destroyers, a fighter squadron, tanker aircraft and several long-range B-52bombers to the region, the Department of Defense announced on Friday.
“These forces will begin to arrive in coming months as the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group prepares to depart,” Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said.
The military support is in addition to the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense missile system to Israel and a sustained Amphibious Ready Group Marine Expeditionary Unit’s presence in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“These movements demonstrate the flexible nature of U.S. global defense posture and U.S. capability to deploy world-wide on short notice to meet evolving national security threats,” Ryder said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “continues to make clear that should Iran, its partners or its proxies use this moment to target American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take every measure necessary to defend our people,” Ryder added. Advertisement
The military escalation in the Middle East comes as cease-fire negotiations continue to end hostilities between Israel and Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah.
Cease-fire negotiations are underway in Israel and Egypt to halt hostilities between Hamas and Israel in Gaza and Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon.
Officials from Egypt and Qatar are negotiating on behalf of Hamas, which is not participating in the cease-fire talks in Egypt.
The cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hezbollah are taking place in Israel, which wants to return about 60,000 residents to northern Israel after evacuating them due to continual rocket, drone and missile attacks by Hezbollah and launched from locations in Lebanon.
In other developments in the Middle East:
- In the central Israeli city of Tira, at least 19 people were injured after three projectiles crossed over from Lebanon overnight into Saturday, local officials said. It was about 15 miles northeast of Tel Aviv.
The residents are Palestinian citizens of Israel.
“This is the result of a direct hit of a Hezbollah rocket on a building in the Israeli Arab town of Tira, injuring 19 civilians,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted on X. “We cannot and will not rest until Hezbollah is dismantled.” Advertisement
Soldiers from the 5th Brigade found an underground tunnel route within the civilian population near Zeitoun containing a Hamas weapons manufacturing facility, the military announced Saturday night.
