Iran preparing to respond to Israel’s attack, says aide to supreme leader

TEHRAN

Iran is preparing measures to show a “proper response” to the recent Israeli attack, says Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

On Oct. 26, Israeli fighter jets launched strikes on Iran, weeks after Tehran fired ballistic missiles at Israel in response to killings of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

“Relevant officials at Iranian military and government are preparing measures to show proper response to recent Israeli aggression against Iran,” Larijani said.

“That [restoring deterrence] is a key issue. Relevant authorities are pursuing the issue carefully to ensure that Iran’s [future] response to Israel fulfill these specifications,” he added.

The senior adviser highlighted that “this is an issue that we should allow relevant military officials to take the right decision. I know that they are thinking about different ways to reach that [decision].”

Larijani said the issue “needs careful considerations and secrecy since it is related to Iran’s national security."

Khamenei: Netanyahu should be ‘sentenced to death’

Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader has suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be “sentenced to death” for his role in the ongoing wars in the Gaza Strip.

Commenting on the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Khamenei said that the move is not enough.

"They issued an arrest warrant, that's not enough... Death sentence must be issued for these criminal leaders,” he said during an event in which he spoke to members of the Basij, the all-volunteer arm of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.