Iranian military officials should decide how to respond to Friday night’s Israeli attack on Iran, but the event should neither be minimised nor exaggerated, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Sunday in his first response to the attack.
A debate has been set off inside Iran on whether the Israeli attack, more limited than some had predicted, warrants a military response and if the country will be seen as weak if it does nothing.
“The evil committed by the Zionist regime [Israel] two nights ago should neither be downplayed nor exaggerated,” Khamenei said.
Khamenei said Iran’s power should be demonstrated to Israel, adding: “It is up to the authorities to determine how to convey the power and will of the Iranian people to the Israeli regime and to take actions that serve the interests of this nation and country.”
His remarks suggest there is no immediate military response planned, as Iran weighs its options.
Tehran on Saturday played down Israel’s overnight air attack against Iranian military targets, saying it caused limited damage, and the US president, Joe Biden, called for a halt to escalation amid fears of an all-out war in the Middle East.
According to anonymous officals quoted in the New York Times, Israel’s attack destroyed air defence systems set up to protect several critical oil and petrochemical refineries and a large gasfield. According to the report the air defences attacked included those around the Bandar Imam Khomeini petrochemical complex and the neighbouring port of Bandar Imam Khomeini.
In his first response Iran’s elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian, mourned the loss of four Iranian soldiers killed in the Israeli attack. In a statement he added: “Enemies of Iran should know these brave people are standing fearlessly in defence of their land and will respond to any stupidity with tact and intelligence.”
The former foreign minister and current strategic adviser to the government, Javad Zarif, also made no direct threat of retaliation, saying instead in a lengthy statement: “The west should move away from its outdated and dangerous paradigm. It must condemn Israel’s recent acts of aggression and join Iran in efforts to end the apartheid, genocide, and violence in Palestine and Gaza, and in Lebanon. Recognising Iran’s confident resolve for peace is essential; this unique opportunity should not be missed.”
Iran’s mission to the UN in New York, often used as a means of communicating media messages to the west, accused the US of being complicit in the attack since Israeli warplanes attacked Iran from Iraqi airspace: “Iraqi airspace is under the occupation, command and control of the US military. Conclusion: the US complicity in this crime is certain.”
The mission has also written to the UN security council to accuse Israel of a breach of Iranian sovereignty.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, added: “It seems that the truth has been completely proven that without America, Israel does not necessarily have any power in the region, not only in the operation it has done against Iran, but all the operations it has done in Gaza, Lebanon and other places, we believe America has been complicit in all these cases.”
He highlighted the reaction of the countries in the region to the Israeli attack. “Since yesterday [Saturday] until now, we are regularly receiving messages from different countries, the statements they issued, the level of condemnation from different countries both in the region. It is really remarkable that it took place at this international level.”
Iran has to weigh the likely diplomatic damage to its improving relations with its Arab partners of mounting a further attack, the impact on the country’s ailing economy, and the likelihood that a further Israeli strike would cause considerably more damage than Friday’s softening-up exercise.
Public support for Iran’s costly foreign policy is fragile, the latest polling conducted by the Middle East Institute shows.