Iran threatens 'crushing attacks' if Israel responds to missiles

An anti-Israel sign is displayed in Tehran's Palestine Square on October 1, 2024 during a rally celebrating after Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel in response to the killings of Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah. [AFP]

Iran's Revolutionary Guards threatened to carry out "crushing attacks" against arch-foe Israel if it retaliates for a missile attack by the Islamic republic on Tuesday.

"If the Zionist regime reacts to Iranian operations, it will face crushing attacks," the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement carried by the Fars news agency.

The IRGC said the attack was "in accordance with the United Nations Charter".

It said it came "after a period of restraint" following an "attack on the sovereignty" of Iran -- a reference to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July.

Late Tuesday, Iranian forces fired a barrage of missiles targeting "three military bases" around Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv, the Guards said.

The United States had earlier warned of an imminent Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel, and said it would have "severe" consequences for Tehran.

Iranian media carried online footage of what they said were missiles being fired at Israel.

State television played upbeat music over the footage as its newscaster spoke of "the brave Iranian people".

It later broadcast images of residents of Iran's second city Mashhad celebrating the Guards' attack in the streets, waving Hezbollah's yellow flag and portraits of slain Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Similar celebrations took place in the capital Tehran and several provincial cities.

Tuesday's attack was Iran's second ever on Israel, after a missile and drone attack in April in retaliation for a deadly Israeli air strike on Iran's consulate in Damascus.

Nearly all of the missiles and drones fired in that attack were intercepted by Israel or its allies.

An Israeli strike on Beirut on Friday killed Nasrallah, whose Lebanese militant group has been armed and financed by Iran for years.

Nasrallah was killed alongside General Abbas Nilforoushan, a top commander of the Quds Force, the IRGC's foreign operations arm.

Iran vowed that Nilforoushan's killing would "not go unanswered".

At last month's UN General Assembly in New York, President Masoud Pezeshkian accused Israel of warmongering as Iran exercised restraint.

He suggested Tehran had held back retaliation for Haniyeh's killing, fearing that it could derail US-backed efforts for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.

"We tried to not respond. They kept telling us we were within reach of peace, perhaps in a week or so," he said.

On Sunday, Pezeshkian said promises by the United States and its allies of a "ceasefire in exchange for Iran's non-reaction to Haniyeh's killing were completely false".

He added that "giving these criminals (Israel) a chance would only encourage them to commit more crimes".

Iran does not recognise Israel, and has made support for the Palestinian cause a centrepiece of its foreign policy since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Tehran hailed its ally Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, which triggered the Gaza war, but denied any involvement.

Regional tensions have soared since the outbreak of the Gaza war, drawing in Iran-aligned groups from Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.