A senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander said on Monday that a third direct attack on Israel will happen in due course, in a potential rebuttal to repeated US and Israeli assertions that Iran is weak.
"Operation True Promise 3 will occur at the right time," IRGC deputy commander Ali Fadavi said. Iran previously hit Israel with missile salvos in April and October.
15-months of warfare has seen Israel gain the upper hand in a region-wide confrontation with Iran and its regional armed allies. An Oct. 26 Israeli attack on Iran has been hailed by US and Israeli leaders for allegedly weakening Iran's defenses.
Fadavi added that the Islamic Republic had successfully weathered threats from adversaries since its inception.
"Not a single day has passed without the world's evil-doers waging war against us. Though the form of their actions may have changed, there has not been a day without it. Who stands on the other side, confronting us? The Great Satan, America, and those who fought with it against us."
The phrase Great Satan, used to describe the United States, originates from the rhetoric of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.
Khomeini famously declared the US "the Great Satan, a wounded snake" on November 5, 1979. The trope is commonly used by Iranian officials to frame the conflict in cosmic religious terms.
Fadavi offered no specifics on the threatened attack against Israel, which Iran has codenamed True Promise. His comments followed by only one day after the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and spoke about containing Iran and limiting its nuclear development.
Netanyahu said Israel had dealt a significant blow to Iran since the start of the war in Gaza and that with the support of US President Donald Trump "I have no doubt we can and will finish the job".
Earlier on Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei denounced their remarks, saying: "When it comes to a country like Iran, they cannot do a damn thing."
"You cannot threaten Iran on one hand and claim to support dialogue on the other."
Trump has expressed openness to a deal with Tehran but also reinstated the "maximum pressure" campaign that was applied during his first term to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Iran's first direct attack on Israel, Operation True Promise 1 on Apr. 13 involved 300+ missiles and drones targeting military installations with minimal damage, retaliating for the killing of two Iranian generals in Damascus.
Operation True Promise 2 on Oct. 1, 2024 followed, with around 200 missiles targeting Israeli military facilities after the assassination of Iran-aligned militant leaders, including former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Earlier on Monday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that Iran could fend off an attack by its enemies, days after US newspapers reported Israel was considering strikes this year on Iran’s nuclear sites.
