Iran still planning response to Israeli strikes as Khamenei says Netanyahu should receive 'death sentence’

The Iranian regime is still planning its response to Israel’s strikes in October, according to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s senior advisor, Ali Larijani. 

During an interview with the Iran-affiliated Tasnim news agency, Larijani said, “Military officials are planning various strategies to respond to Israel.” 

Larijani also accused the United States of supporting Israel’s actions in the Middle East and of “orchestrating events” as part of a “shadow war.” 

Just a few days earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Hezbollah-affiliated news site al-Mayadeen that Iran stands behind “the Resistance.” 

“We will not abandon the Resistance in these circumstances, and we will support it by all possible means,” Araghchi said. 

He also told the channel that Iran would retaliate against Israel at “the appropriate time.”  

IRGC commander Maj.-Gen. Hossein Salami said during a meeting with the Basij forces – a paramilitary division within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – that Iran is still planning a response to Israel, while stating that “Israel is terrified, its officials are restless and anxious, and its citizens live in shelters.” 

Salami claimed that “the Israeli army is exhausted while the morale of Hezbollah and the resistance front is at its height.” 

In his speech, Salami warned that further escalation of a regional conflict would only result in Israel’s destruction. 

“We see that destruction awaits Israel,” Salami told the forces. 

Meanwhile, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also addressed the Basij forces, assuring them that Israel will not win the war against Hamas or Hezbollah.

“The enemy has not won in Gaza and Lebanon,” Khamenei said during his speech. “The enemy will not win in Gaza and Lebanon.” 

Khamenei also referred to the recent International Criminal Court's (ICC) ruling, issuing arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges related to "war crimes" in Gaza.

“What the Zionists did is a war crime,” Khamenei stated, “they [the ICC] issued an arrest warrant for him; this is not enough, the death sentence for Netanyahu must be issued. The death sentence of these criminal leaders must be issued.”

Hours after his speech, in his Hebrew account on 𝕏, Khamenei also posted a message stating that “all the political and military leaders of the criminal Zionist terror gang must be prosecuted.”