War: If Israel Launches Retaliatory Airstrikes, What We’ll Do… – Iran Vows
Iran has threatened to use “weapons it has never used” in a “painful and severe” response if Israel launches airstrikes in retaliation to Tehran’s weekend salvo.
Israel earlier vowed that it would respond to Iran’s unprecedented drone and missile attack, amid fears that the Middle-East is teetering on the edge of an all-our war.
As the West urged for calmer heads to prevail in the Jewish state, Iranian Parliament’s National Security Committee Abolfazl Amoue stated that Iran is “prepared to use a weapon that we have never used” if Israel responds further.
Speaking on Monday, he said Israel should consider its next steps and “act wisely.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also warned Israel it will face a “painful response” if it takes the “slightest action” in response to his country’s attack.
The threats raise fears that Iran’s lacklustre drone and missile barrage – 99 percent of which was intercepted by Israel and its allies – could further push Tehran to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran has threatened to use “weapons it has never used’ in a “painful and severe” response if Israel launches airstrikes in retaliation to Tehran’s weekend salvo.
Iran has several nuclear research sites, two uranium mines, a research reactor and uranium processing facilities – including three uranium enrichment plants.
A UN report in 2007 found that Iran had halted an alleged nuclear weapons programme in 2003, and a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2018 said it had found no evidence of nuclear weapons activity after 2009.
In 2015, Iran signed up to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – or Iran Nuclear Deal – along with countries including the US, UK, France, Russia and China, imposing restrictions on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
However, the agreement took a hit in 2018 when the US – under president Donald Trump – withdrew and imposed new sanctions on Iran under a “maximum pressure” policy, essentially cutting Iran off from the international financial system.
In November 2023, an IAEA report estimated Iran’s uranium stockpile was 22 times larger than the limit agreed upon in the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal.
In December, the UN’s watchdog warned that Iran had escalated the rate at which it is enriching uranium to up to 60 per cent purity, levels close to weapons-grade.
The report said Iran has enough uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent purity for three atom bombs by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s definition.
Its leaders have long maintained it ‘does not need’ nuclear weapons and is only enriching uranium for peaceful purposes.
However, for four decades, the Islamic Republic’s rulers have pledged to destroy Israel, and Tehran’s latest threat again raises the spectre of a nuclear-armed Iran.
Meanwhile, Tel Aviv has worked to stymie Iran’s nuclear weapons programme – including the suspected assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists.
United Nations nuclear watchdog chief expressed concerns on Monday about Israel potentially targeting Iranian nuclear facilities in retaliation, as he announced inspections paused on Sunday and Monday would resume nonetheless.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said Iran closed its nuclear facilities temporarily over ‘security considerations’ and that while they reopened on Monday, he kept IAEA inspectors away ‘until we see that the situation is completely calm.’
When asked about the possibility of an Israel strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, Grossi said, “We are always concerned about this possibility.”
He urged “extreme restraint.”
As Benjamin Netanyahu continues to debate what retaliation it will unleash, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to use a phone call with the Israeli premier today to urge him to show “restraint.”
But leading voices in defence, including respected former minister Ben Wallace, have urged Western leaders to support Israel in its response to ‘bullies’ like Iran – and to even stand up to the regime themselves if necessary.
As Benjamin Netanyahu walks a ‘tightrope’ between escalation and deterrence, former defence secretary Wallace did not mince his words of warning.
“The only way to deal with a bully is to retaliate,” the said.
“The only option when Iran and Russia hit, I have concluded, is to hit back twice as hard and not stop until they get the message.”
Despite the unprecedented scale of Iran’s weekend attack, experts have said it exposed Iran’s ‘lacklustre’ arsenal, signalling how its outdated aircraft and defences would be no match for Israel’s in the event of full-scale war.
