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Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday threatened retaliation against Tehran, accusing Iran’s leadership of targeting Israeli civilians in an effort to deter continued military operations.
“The boastful dictator in Tehran has become a cowardly murderer, firing directly at Israel’s civilian rear to stop the IDF from continuing its assault,” Katz wrote on social media. “Tehran residents will pay the price — soon.”
Iran on Monday executed Esmaeil Fekri, accused of spying for Israel’s Mossad, after the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence, state media said.
Authorities said Fekri passed classified information to Israeli agents.
The execution is the third in recent weeks related to allegations of espionage on behalf of Israel.
In April, Mohsen Langarneshin, a cybersecurity expert, was executed in Ghezelhesar prison. Rights groups and activists have said his conviction was based on forced confessions and flawed legal proceedings.
Earlier this year, Norway-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) warned that Fekri was transferred from Ward 4 of Evin Prison to Ghezelhesar Prison on 15 February alongside Langarneshin, raising concerns of their imminent execution as hangings of prisoners held in Evin are often carried out in Ghezelhesar.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused Israel on Monday of trying to topple the Islamic Republic by sparking unrest and using internal infiltrators.
“Israel fantasized it could bring people into the streets of Tehran and finally achieve its 40-year dream of eliminating the Islamic system,” Ghalibaf said in parliament. “But the will of the people and the leadership turned that plan into failure.”
He also warned that “a significant part of the enemy’s attacks are not military, but carried out through internal infiltration.”
"All the people of Iran must join hands and stand firmly against the aggression that has taken place," President Masoud Pezeshkian told parliament on Monday.
"Any disagreements, disputes or problems must be set aside today. With unity and cohesion, We must confront the aggression of this genocidal criminal with strength."
The Israeli army announced early on Monday local time that it attacked the headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force in Tehran.
Leading the foreign operations of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Quds force is responsible for projecting Iranian military might in the Middle East.
"In these headquarters, Quds operatives planned terrorist acts against Israel through the Iranian regime's branches in the Middle East," the Israeli military said on X.
