Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei today reacted for the first time to his nation’s attack on Israel earlier this month, saying his army “demonstrated power” despite failing to achieve any significant objectives.
Khamenei attempted to downplay the failure of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to hit important targets with his salvo of 300 drones and missiles sent to Israel on April 13.
He said: “How many missiles were launched and how many of them hit their target is not the main question, what really matters is that Iran demonstrated its willpower during that operation.”
The leader, who celebrated his 85th birthday on Friday, the same day Israel retaliated with an attack in the strategically important province of Isfahan, apparently called for an escalation in tensions between Tehran and Jerusalem.
He called on the IRCG to “relentlessly pursue military innovation and learn the tactics of the enemy.”
Iran fired the salvo of drones and missiles at Israel in response to an Israeli missile attack on an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, earlier this month.
One view shows drones or missiles competing for targets at undisclosed locations in northern Israel.
Today he spoke with “several commanders of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” according to his official account on X.
His account added in a later post: ‘I sincerely appreciate the efforts and achievements of the armed forces in Operation ‘True Promise’ that was carried out against the Zionist regime.
‘In Operation True Promise, the armed forces showed a good image of their capabilities and power and an admirable image of the Iranian nation. They also demonstrated the emergence of the power of the Iranian nation’s determination internationally.
“The recent achievements of the armed forces have created a sense of splendor and magnificence about Islamic Iran in the eyes of the world and among international observers.”
Iran fired a salvo of drones and missiles at Israel in response to an Israeli missile attack on an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, earlier this month that killed seven people, including two top IRGC generals.
It took several hours for the salvo to reach Israel, but only one person was injured: a seven-year-old girl who was seriously injured by falling shrapnel.
In response, Israel launched a missile that hit Isfahan province, where many of Iran’s military and nuclear sites are located.
Khamenei (pictured) attempted to downplay the failure of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to hit important targets with its salvo of 300 drones and missiles.
Today he spoke with “several commanders of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Iran has officially said it has no plans to retaliate and has downplayed the damage suffered from the attack.
But Iran appears to be trying to improve relations with its neighbors, and President Ebrahim Raisi revealed that he will travel to Pakistan on Monday to meet his counterpart, President Asif Ali Zardari.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said today that Raisi will be accompanied by “a high-level delegation consisting of the foreign minister… as well as a large business delegation.”
It comes just three months after Iran and Pakistan engaged in a series of missile attacks that stoked regional tensions.
Tehran carried out the attacks against an anti-Iran group in Pakistan the same week it attacked Iraq and Syria.
Pakistan responded with a raid against “militant targets” in the Iranian province of Sistan-Balochistan, one of the few majority-Sunni Muslim regions in Shiite-dominated Iran.
In the past, both countries have accused each other of harboring militants.
A visit to Islamabad by Tehran’s foreign minister led the two sides to promise to improve dialogue and install liaison officers in both countries.
Sistan-Balochistan province has faced years of unrest involving cross-border drug gangs and rebels from the Baloch ethnic minority, and Muslim extremists.
Raisi will also visit Lahore and Karachi to meet provincial leaders, the statement said.
The countries will further strengthen ties and enhance cooperation in “trade, connectivity, energy, agriculture and people-to-people contacts,” he added.
Pakistan is counting on a joint gas project with Iran to resolve a long-running energy crisis that has undermined its economic growth.
In March 2013, a $7.5 billion Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline to power Pakistani power plants was inaugurated with great fanfare.
But the project was immediately stalled following international sanctions on Iran.
Tehran has built its own section of the 1,100-mile pipeline, which should eventually link its South Pars gas fields to the Pakistani city of Nawabshah, near Karachi.
In February, Pakistan’s outgoing interim government approved construction of an 80-kilometer section of the pipeline, primarily to avoid paying billions of dollars in fines to Iran over years of delays.
Washington has warned that Pakistan could face US sanctions, saying it does not support the pipeline in the future.