Jerusalem, March 4: Defence Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday threatened that any leader appointed by the Iranian regime, who would continue to lead with the plans to destroy Israel, will be a target for elimination by the Jewish state.
Katz’s comments came on a day Iran is set to choose a Supreme Leader, the second time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The joint US-Israel strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday, prompting the Islamic nation to vow revenge on Sunday.
“Every leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime to continue and lead the plan to destroy Israel, to threaten the United States and the free world and the countries of the region, and to suppress the Iranian people-will be an unequivocal target for elimination,” Katz said in a post on X.
“It does not matter what his name is or the place where he hides,” the Israeli defence minister stressed.
“The Prime Minister and I have instructed the IDF to prepare and act by all means to carry out the mission as an integral part of the objectives of Operation ‘Lion’s Roar’,” he said. Meanwhile, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced that they have launched their 10th wave of strikes in Tehran on Wednesday morning.
“The Air Force has now begun a broad wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in Tehran,” the Israeli army said.
Katz said that Israel will “continue to act with full force, together with our American partners, to crush the regime’s capabilities and create the conditions for the Iranian people to overthrow it and replace it.”
US ‘can’t stop everything’ that Iran fires: Hegseth
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged Wednesday that some Iranian air attacks may still hit their targets even as he asserted that US military superiority is quickly giving it control of the Islamic Republic’s airspace.
The US has spared “no expense or capability” to enhance air defense systems to protect American forces and allies in the Middle East, Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon days after the US and Israel attacked Iran in a war that has widened throughout the region.
Six soldiers were killed when an Iranian drone strike hit an operations centre Sunday in the heart of a civilian port in Kuwait, miles away from the main Army base.
Iran postpones funeral for Khamenei
A senior Iranian official said on Wednesday that Tehran would hold a public ceremony for citizens to pay their respects following the death of the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, France 24 reported, citing state media.
Hojjatoleslam Mahmoudi, head of Iran’s Islamic Propagation Council, said the farewell ceremony would continue for three days, and the funeral procession would be announced later.
The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Prayer Hall starting at 10 pm (1830 GMT) on Wednesday, but was “postponed”, state media said, without elaborating further, as per France 24.
Death toll in Iran has reached at least 1,045 people
The death toll in Iran from the ongoing war with the United States and Israel has reached at least 1,045 people, an Iranian govt agency said on Wednesday. The Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs offered the toll, saying it represented the number of bodies so far identified and prepared for burial. (Agencies)
