TEHRAN, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- A top Iranian military commander on Thursday warned Israel that any "aggression" against Iran would provoke a "painful response," according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.
Chief Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami, made the remarks during a funeral ceremony in the central Iranian city of Isfahan for veteran Iranian commander Abbas Nilforoushan, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike alongside Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon's capital Beirut on Sept. 27.
Referring to Iran's missile attack against Israel on Oct. 1, dubbed "Operation True Promise II," Salami said it was a "glorious display" of the country's military power, warning Israel and its allies that the attack was merely a warning and represented the smallest scale of operations Iran could carry out.
Salami said that the missile attack aimed to make Israel understand that if it attacks Iranian citizens, figures, interests, or resources, Iran would retaliate.
"We hit you so that you realize that if our national sovereignty is violated and our guest (Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh) is martyred in Tehran, we will target you inside your territory," he said.
He added that Iran wanted to tell Israel not to rely on its missile defense system, as it failed to be a "reliable support."
On Oct. 1, Iran fired approximately 180 missiles at Israeli targets. Tehran described the strikes as retaliation for the assassinations of several leaders of the regional resistance groups and Israel's military actions against Lebanese and Palestinian armed groups.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran had made a "grave mistake" and vowed retaliation. ■
