Iran’s president stated on Sunday that a possible ceasefire between its allies and Israel “could affect the intensity” of Tehran’s response to Israel’s recent assaults on Iranian military sites.
“If they (the Israelis) reconsider their behaviour, accept a ceasefire and stop massacring the oppressed and innocent people of the region, it could affect the intensity and type of our response,” Masoud Pezeshkian said, quoted by state news agency IRNA.
According to the news agency, he stressed that Iran “will not leave unanswered any aggression against its sovereignty and security”.
Israeli airplanes carried out the strikes on October 26 in reprisal for Iran’s October 1 missile onslaught.
Iran had termed the attack as retaliation for the assassination of Iran-backed terrorist leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander.
Since the strikes last month, Israel has cautioned Iran not to retaliate, but Tehran has threatened to reply.
On Saturday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, declared that the Islamic republic would retaliate.
“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.
He was alluding to the Tehran-backed armed coalition that includes Yemen’s Huthi rebels, Lebanon’s Hezbollah organization, and the Palestinian Islamist party Hamas.
Following the strikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that they “hit Iran’s defence capabilities and missile production”.
Iran’s armed forces stated that the attack killed four military personnel and inflicted “limited damage” to a few radar equipment. According to Iranian media reports, a civilian was also killed.