The official, an adviser to Supreme Leader Yahya Rahim Safavi, was speaking following a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1 for which Tehran has vowed retaliation.
Israel's defence minister said on Sunday the country was ready to handle any scenario that may develop with its foe Iran as it stayed on alert for a possible retaliatory attack to the killing of Iranian generals on April 1.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant's office made the statement after he held an "operational situation assessment" with senior military officers.
"Upon completing the assessment, Minister Gallant emphasized that the defense establishment has completed preparations for responses in the event of any scenario that may develop vis-Ã -vis Iran," his office said.“The resistance front is ready; how it (the response) will be, we have to wait,” Safavi said, noting that “confronting this brutal regime is a legal and legitimate right”.
He also noted that multiple Israeli embassies around the region “have been shuttered”. There was no immediate comment from Israel.
Monday’s attack, which Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said killed 16 people, was the fifth raid on Syria in a week blamed on Israel.
Among the dead were generals Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi who were senior commanders in the Quds Force, the IRGC’s foreign operations arm.
Zahedi, 63, had held several commands during a career spanning more than 40 years.He was the most senior Iranian soldier killed since a United States missile strike at Baghdad airport in 2020 killed Quds Force chief General Qasem Soleimani.
Monday’s strike in Damascus took place against the backdrop of the Gaza war which began with Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel which killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians.
Tehran backs Hamas but has denied any direct involvement in the attack which sparked massive Israeli retaliation against the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas-run health ministry in the Palestinian territory says at least 33,175 people have been killed there during six months of war.
Iran does not recognise Israel, and the two countries have fought a shadow war for years.
The Islamic republic accuses Israel of having carried out a wave of sabotage attacks and assassinations targeting its nuclear programme.
The United States is on high alert and getting ready for a potential attack by Iran targeting Israeli or American assets in the region in reaction to Israel's attack on the Iranian embassy in Syria, a US official stated on Friday.
"We're definitely at a high state of vigilance," the representative declared, verifying a CNN article speculating that an assault might occur within the upcoming week.
An Iranian military commander was killed when suspected Israeli warplanes bombed Iran's embassy in Damascus on Monday, signaling a significant uptick in Israel's conflict with its neighbors in the region.
Seven Iranian military advisors perished in the attack, according to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Among them was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the Quds Force, an elite paramilitary and foreign espionage unit.
According to Iran, it is entitled "to take a decisive response."
American President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone on Thursday, addressing the threat posed by Iran.
"Our teams have been in regular and continuous contact since then. The United States fully supports the defense of Israel against threats from Iran," a senior Biden administration official said.
