Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday issued a cryptic warning to Israel that the geography of Tehran's response to any future attack would shift and its arch-foe would face a punishing response.
"The geography of the response and the battlefield may change, and Iran's reactions will be more crushing than previously observed," state media outlet Mehr news cited the spokesman of the sprawling military organization as saying.
“If the Zionist regime launches a new attack on the powerful and resilient Iran, the initiative to end the conflict will be in our hands,’ Ali Mohammad Naeini said.
Israel's surprise 12-day military campaign against Iran last month killed hundreds of military personnel and civilians in air strikes and drone attacks. Missile salvos by Iran killed 28 Israeli civilians.
Iranian military leaders had made similar threats against Israel before the conflict, and official declarations of victory following the war have yet to substantively grapple with the lopsided toll and Tehran's intelligence lapses.
“We will not allow the sirens in the occupied territories to fall silent, and the enemy must not have the opportunity to leave its shelters,” Naeini said. “They will experience more fleeing and displacement than they did during the 12-day war.”
Iran's armed allies in the region have been degraded by nearly two years of Israeli attacks, but an Emirati news outlet reported on Wednesday that a top IRGC general traveled to Iraq to shore up support for Tehran-backed militias there.
Citing Iraqi political sources close to the Shi'ite-run political establishment, al-Ain al-Ekhbariya reported that the commander of the IRGC's elite Quds Force Esmail Qaani made an unannounced visit to Iran's neighbor.
The visit, the outlet said, involved meetings with senior Shi'ite political and militia leaders and aimed at shoring up unity and coordination as parliamentary elections loom.
Mysterious attacks hit Western-run oil facilities in Iraq's Kurdish region this month, in strikes blamed by local officials on Iran-backed militias. The sources cited by al-Ain al-Ekhbariya alleged Qaani described the events as not authorized by Tehran.
Meanwhile Iran-backed Houthi forces resumed attacks on maritime shipping without explanation following the Iran-Israel ceasefire.
Following a US-brokered ceasefire on June 25, Israel and Iran have repeatedly exchanged threats.
Israel 'wiped off the face of the earth'
Iran’s interim chief of staff, Habibollah Sayyari, praised the Islamic Republic’s wartime performance on Wednesday, saying the conflict extended beyond just Israel.
“People must understand that we did not fight just one regime, we fought the world. That means we fought NATO, Europe and the United States. This is very important, yet we emerged from it with our heads held high,” Sayyari said.
Former IRGC chief Mohsen Rezaei added to the uptick of official military rhetoric on Wednesday, threatening to eradicate Israel.
“A day will come when great revenge and severe punishment will be carried out, and Israel will be wiped off the face of the earth forever,” Rezaei said on Wednesday.
