Iran’s Supreme National Security Council warned Israel of detrimental consequences if it continues to target Iranian forces that operating in its northern neighbor, Syria. The Council’s Secretary, Ali Shamkhani was quoted as saying that “if the Israeli attacks in Syria continue,” the Islamic Republic “will take a number of calculated steps for ‘deterrence purposes’ and a solid response, which will teach the criminal and lying leaders of Israel a lesson.” The threat Shamkhani made, came just one months after he declared in a separate statement that “precision missiles are held by the ‘strong hands’ of the resistance fighters in Gaza and Lebanon,” and warned Jerusalem that “they are ready to fire (those missiles) at Israel if it makes a stupid move.” Since making the threat last month, however, Israel overtly attacked Iranian forces in Syria twice, and according to local Syrian reports that were verified by TV7, at least twelve members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp were counted among the casualties. Since then, Iran has continued its attempts to bolster its capabilities in Syria and Lebanon, yet contrary to repeated threats, it refrained from attacking the Jewish state. According to a senior Israeli intelligence source who is tasked with monitoring Iranian movements in the region, “the threat voiced last night was yet another hollow bark by a muzzled dog.” The source underscored that “Israel knows every move taken by the mullah’s in Tehran and will act accordingly to assure the security of its citizens and the integrity of its sovereignty.”
