Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday called for a global “military coalition” against Israel, as other top officials in Tehran vowed that Jerusalem will pay a price for its weekend airstrikes against key Iranian military sites.
The strong rhetoric from Ayatollah Khamenei comes at a pivotal moment in the long-simmering Israel-Iran military tensions, which have spilled into direct conflict on several occasions this month and threaten to drag the Mideast into a wider, more deadly conflict.
The supreme leader’s comments also reflect Iran’s growing alliances with China, Russia and North Korea, all leading U.S. adversaries, and might suggest that Tehran believes those autocratic allies will ultimately stand with it against Israel.
“A global coalition must be formed, as well as a political coalition, an economic coalition, and, if necessary, a military coalition, against the malicious Zionist regime that is committing the most brutal war crimes today,” the ayatollah said, according to Iranian state-controlled media, presumably referring to Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Separately, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said that the “perpetrators” of Friday night’s airstrikes “will receive an appropriate response.”
The world is waiting to see what, if anything, Iran does to respond to the most recent Israeli airstrikes. A significant Iranian response could trigger more violence across the Middle East, as Israel almost surely would respond with its own fresh attacks on Iran.
But Ayatollah Khamenei also said that Israel’s strikes shouldn’t be “magnified,” suggesting that perhaps Iran will decide against a direct military response and could potentially deescalate the dangerous situation in the region.
The Israeli Defense Forces said that Friday’s strikes were necessitated by relentless attacks on Israel by Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and, on two occasions, the Iranian military itself. Those attacks have continued in the year since Hamas, another Iran-backed group, launched its Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians.
Israel’s direct strike on Iran had been expected since Iran fired a barrage of nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Oct. 1. Tehran said that attack was retaliation for the recent killings by the IDF of senior Hezbollah and Hamas officials. Israel recently has killed Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime leader of Hezbollah, Hamas militant leader Yahya Sinwar, and other leaders of Iran’s proxy network, known as the “axis of resistance.”
Israel also has killed key figures in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Associated Press reported Sunday that satellite photos show the Israeli airstrikes targeted Iran’s Parchin military base, southeast of Tehran, where the International Atomic Energy Agency suspects Iran in the past conducted tests of high explosives that could trigger a nuclear weapon. The Israeli bombing also is believed to have targeted the nearby Khojir military base, which some analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and missile production sites.
It does not appear that Israel targeted any of Iran’s current nuclear facilities or its oil-production infrastructure, satisfying pleas from the Biden administration to avoid hitting such non-military targets.
While Israel has been tight-lipped about the details of its attacks on Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the mission achieved its goals.
“We promised we would respond to the Iranian attack and on Saturday we struck … The attack in Iran was precise and powerful, achieving all of its objectives,” Mr. Netanyahu said, according to Israeli media.
Some observers expected Israel to conduct much more aggressive military strikes on Iran. The relatively restrained operation even brought some rare criticism inside Israel that Mr. Netanyahu had not been tough enough in his response.
Knesset opposition leader Yair Lapid said the apparent decision to avoid “strategic and economic targets” in the attack was a mistake.
“We could and should have exacted a much heavier price from Iran,” Mr. Lapid posted on X.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.