Iran hard-liners applaud IRGC, Khamenei amid missile attack on Israel
Iran said the strike was in retaliation for Israel's killing of Hezbollah's leader, but it has placed Tehran closer than ever to a state of all-out conflict with Israel — a choice Iran has been avoiding since the outbreak of the Gaza war.
TEHRAN — "Israel showered with Iranian missiles," read the top headlines on Iran's hard-line media outlets late Tuesday, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had fired dozens of missiles well into "the heart of Israel."
The IRGC warned in a brief statement published by its Tasnim news agency that Israel will have to face a "crushing" attack if it chooses to respond to the strikes.
The statement noted that the attack was a response to Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a senior Iranian commander in Beirut last week, as well the killing in Tehran of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in late July.
The high-ranking Iranian commander killed in Beirut was identified as Abbas Nilforushan. The brigadier-general was the second in command and the chief of operations in the Quds Force, the IRGC's overseas wing.
