Iran has vowed to deliver a 'crushing response' to the US and Israel in the wake of an Israeli bombardment last week, reigniting fears of rapid escalation in the region,
Dailymail reports.
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei insisted in a speech in Tehran today that 'both the USA and the Zionist regime [Israel]' would 'definitely' receive a sharp response over recent attacks against Iran and its proxy groups in the wider Middle East.
The supreme leader was welcomed by students, who chanted 'The blood in our veins is a gift to our leader!' Some also made a hand gesture given by the slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in 2020 in a speech in which he threatened that American troops would 'return in coffins.'
Khamenei spoke amid warnings from Iranian officials that Tehran would seek revenge for Israel's October 26 strike on military bases and other locations in the Islamic Republic - itself a response to an Iranian attack on Israel.
The Ayatollah did not elaborate on the timing of the threatened attack, nor the scope. The U.S. military operates throughout the Middle East, with some troops now manning a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, battery in Israel.
The US had been in 'close consultations' with Israel in the build up to last week's strike but played no military role. Israel had offered assurances to the US that it wouldn't strike sensitive targets in an apparent effort to avoid escalation.
'The enemies, both the USA and the Zionist regime, should know that they will definitely receive a tooth-breaking response to what they are doing against Iran, the Iranian nation, and the resistance front,' Khamenei said in a speech to students in Tehran.
The supreme leader, 85, was referring to the alliance of Tehran-backed armed groups including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen.
