Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday Iran would not go unpunished for instigating attacks through its proxies, speaking a week after the assassination in Tehran of a Revolutionary Guards colonel that has been blamed on Israel.
Hassan Sayad Khodai, accused by Israel of plotting attacks against its citizens worldwide, was shot dead at the wheel of his car by two people on a motorcycle. The tactic echoed previous killings in Iran that focused on nuclear scientists and were widely pinned on Mossad.
Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency said members of an Israeli intelligence service network had been discovered and arrested by the Guards immediately after the Tehran shooting.
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Bennett’s office, which oversees intelligence agency Mossad, has declined to comment on the assassination.
However, in broadcast remarks to his ministers on Sunday, Bennett accused Iran of repeatedly targeting Israeli interests.
“For decades, the Iranian regime has practiced terrorism against Israel and the region by means of proxies, emissaries, but the head of the octopus, Iran itself, has enjoyed immunity,” Bennett said.
🇮🇱 Israeli PM said about #Iran 🇮🇷: “For decades, the Iranian regime has practiced terrorism against Israel and the region by means of proxies, emissaries, but the head of the octopus, Iran itself, has enjoyed immunity”. https://t.co/XjLIJflZkY
— Zahack Tanvir – ضحاك تنوير (@zahacktanvir) May 29, 2022
“As we have said before, the era of the Iranian regime’s immunity is over. Those who finance terrorists, those who arm terrorists and those who send terrorists will pay the full price,” he added.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Monday that Tehran will avenge the death of Revolutionary Guards Colonel Hassan Sayad Khodai, who was shot dead by two people on a motorcycle in the capital.
“I have agreed for our security forces to seriously follow up on this matter and I have no doubt that revenge for the pure blood of our martyr will be taken,” Raisi said.
Read more: Iran says US assassinated colonel in Tehran
The semi-official ISNA news agency said members of an Israeli intelligence service network had been discovered and arrested by the Guards.
Reuters with additional input by GVS News Desk