The Israeli military revealed on Wednesday that they have alerted air defense units and mobilized reserve formations, in preparation for any response related to the recent airstrike on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus.
The increased security comes as Iran’s President, Ebrahim Raisi, released an online statement saying that the incident “will not go unanswered,” while the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ensured his followers that the Jewish state “will be punished.”
Tehran earlier threatened to act “at the same magnitude and harshness” against Israel for the Monday incursion in Syria that killed Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi. The senior IRGC leader was reportedly attending a meeting with other regime officers and Islamic Jihad representatives when the incident occurred.
Jerusalem has yet to officially claim responsibility for conducting the operation.
Observers have noted that security officials in Israel must determine if any retaliation will come through actions by the Islamic Republic's many regional proxy groups, the direct deployment of weapons from inside Iranian territory, or attacks on their overseas diplomatic properties.
The IDF’s former intelligence chief, Amos Yadlin, told Israel’s Channel 12 that “I won’t be surprised if Iran fires directly at Israel.”
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