Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, responded to reports that Israel has proposed $1.5 billion to carry out strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

In a post on Twitter, Shamkhani wrote, “Instead of allocating 1.5 billion dollars budget for atrocities against Iran, the Zionist regime should focus on providing tens of thousands of billion dollars to repair the damage that is going to be caused by Iran’s shocking response.” He tweeted the same thing in Persian, Arabic and Hebrew. 

The tweet is in response to Israeli news reports that the proposed fund will be used for various types of aircraft, intelligence gathering drones and specific arms to hit heavily fortified sites in Iran. The Natanz fuel enrichment plant in Esfahan, for instance, was built 8 meters underground and protected by 2.5 meters of concrete. 

According to hardline Tasnim News Agency, Shamkhani’s tweet was laying out a new strategy. The article said that assassinations of Iran’s nuclear scientists and sabotage on nuclear facilities were carried out likely by Israel discreetly with no claim of responsibility. However, this current budget is being set aside for “direct military attacks,” the agency wrote.