Tehran, 16 April 2024 (TDI): Iran has declared that the 14th April retaliatory display of missile and drone barrage highlights a drastic strategic shift from shadow war.
Tehran highlights it as the first act of a tough new strategy, further warning that “a direct and punishing response” will be given if Israel chooses to attack again.
Also, it commemorates the operation as “successful” due to incurring “heavy blows” to Israel.
“Iran’s victorious… operation means that the era of strategic patience is over,” the Iranian President’s Political Deputy Mohammad Jamshidi.
“Now the equation has changed. Targeting Iranian personnel and assets by the (Occupation) regime will be met with a direct and punishing response,” he warned.
Simultaneously, the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi emphasized that the operation has “opened a new page” and “taught the Zionist enemy (Israel) a lesson.”
“Instead of making accusations against Iran, [Western] countries should blame themselves and answer to public opinion for the measures they have taken against the… war crimes committed by Israel” in its war against Tehran-backed Hamas in Gaza, said Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanani.
Furthermore, western countries “should appreciate Iran’s restraint in recent months,” he asserted.
Iran’s action was meant to “create a deterrent in the aim to prevent the repetition of the actions of the Zionist regime and to defend [Iranian] interests,” he reiterated.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Chief Hossein Salami has signalled that Iran was “creating a new equation.”
“Should the Zionist regime attack our interests, our assets, our personnel and citizens at any point, we will counterattack it from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he was quoted as saying by local media.
Also Read: Facts about the Islamic Republic of Iran military action against the Zionist Regime
Strategic shift from prolonged shadow war
Nevertheless, the retaliatory attack has been hailed as “historic” yet “limited” in nature by Iranian media and officials.
This, however, spells a dramatic shift from past years.
Previously, the Islamic Republic and Israel have fought a shadow war of proxy fights and covert operations across the Middle East and sometimes further afield.
