Iran leader says Israeli attack should not be ‘exaggerated or downplayed’

[Pelican Press 0]

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Iran leader says ******** ******* should not be ‘exaggerated or downplayed’

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has given a measured response to ******** strikes on the country, saying the ******* should not be “exaggerated or downplayed” while refraining from pledging immediate retaliation.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would “give an appropriate response” to the *******, which ******* at least four soldiers, adding that Tehran did not seek war.

******* said it targeted military sites in several regions of Iran on Saturday in retaliation for Iranian attacks, including a barrage of almost 200 ballistic missiles fired towards ******* on 1 October.

On Sunday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ******* had crippled Iranian air defence and missile production systems. He said the strikes had “severely damaged Iran’s defence capability and its ability to produce missiles”.

“The ******* was precise and powerful and achieved its goals,” Netanyahu said at a ceremony commemorating the victims of last year’s 7 October attacks.

“This regime must understand a simple principle: whoever hurts us, we hurt him.”

Official Iranian sources have publicly played down the impact of the *******, saying most missiles were intercepted and those that weren’t caused only limited damage to air defence systems.

In his first public comments since the *******, Khamenei said: “It is up to the authorities to determine how to convey the power and will of the Iranian people to the ******** regime and to take actions that serve the interests of this nation and country.”

President Pezeshkian largely echoed the supreme leader’s language, telling a cabinet meeting: “We do not seek war, but we will defend the rights of our nation and country.”

The ******** strikes were more limited than some observers had been expecting. The US had publicly pressured ******* not to hit oil and nuclear facilities, advice seemingly heeded by Tel Aviv.

Western countries have urged Iran in turn not to respond in order to break the cycle of escalation between both Middle Eastern countries, which they ***** could lead to all-out regional war.

Iranian media has carried footage of daily life continuing as normal and framing the “limited” damage as a victory, a choice analysts said was intended to reassure Iranians.

Fighting continued between ******* and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and between ******* and the ************ armed group ****** in Gaza.

On Sunday, an ******** air strike on the town of Sidon in southern Lebanon ******* at least eight people, according to local authorities.

In Gaza, eight people were ******* in an ******** strike on a school-turned-shelter in the al-Shati ******** camp. ************ media and the Reuters news agency said three of the ***** were ************ journalists.

And in *******, a man was ******* and at least 30 injured after a truck hit a bus stop near an ******** military base north of Tel Aviv, in what authorities said was a suspected ******* *******.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday proposed a two-day ceasefire in Gaza, which would involve an exchange of four ******** hostages for some ************ prisoners.

He said that within 10 days of implementing such a temporary ceasefire, talks should resume with the aim of reaching a more permanent one.

But speaking to the BBC’s Arabic Service, a senior ****** official said its conditions for a ceasefire – rejected by ******* for months – have not changed.

Sami Abu Zuhri said the ************ militant group continued to demand a complete ceasefire, a full ******** withdrawal from Gaza and a serious prisoner swap deal.

“Any agreement that does not guarantee these conditions holds no value,” he added.

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#Iran #leader #******** #******* #exaggerated #downplayed

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