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DUBAI (Reuters) – Tehran will “use all available tools” to respond to Israel’s weekend attack on military targets in Iran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday.
Iran previously downplayed the Israeli airstrike on Saturday, saying it caused only limited damage, while US President Joe Biden called for a halt to the escalation that has raised fears of an all-out conflagration in the Middle East.
During a weekly televised press conference, Baghaei said: “(Iran) will use all available instruments to provide a final and effective response to the Zionist regime (Israel).”
The nature of Iran’s response will depend on the nature of the Israeli attack, Baghaei added, without elaborating.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that Iranian officials must determine how best to demonstrate Iranian power to Israel, adding that the Isreli attack “should neither be downplayed nor exaggerated.”
Dozens of Israeli warplanes carried out three waves of attacks before dawn on Saturday against missile factories and other sites near Tehran and in western Iran, the Israeli military said.
The heavily armed arch-enemies have been engaged in a cycle of retaliatory strikes against each other for months, with Saturday’s attack following an Iranian rocket barrage on October 1, which Israel said was largely shot down by its air defenses.
Iran supports Hezbollah, which is engaged in heavy fighting with Israeli forces in Lebanon, as well as the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is fighting Israel in the Gaza Strip.
(Reporting by Elwely Elwelly; Editing by Toby Chopra and Gareth Jones)