Tehran vows to retaliate the recent Israeli airstrike against Iranian targets in Syria

Tabnak – Two weeks after an Israeli airstrike against Iranian targets in Syria which resulted in the death of a number of Iranian military advisors, Iran’s top security official vows to retaliate the move in due time. His remarks come as the Israelis have becoming more and more worried recently over Iran’s counter-move.

The punishment of the aggressor is certain but the Islamic Republic of Iran would decide on the time, place and way of giving a response to this "act of evil", Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani told reporters on Tuesday before leaving Tehran to attend an international security conference in Russia’s Sochi.

"When a regime assumes the right to violate another country's airspace in a planned move and also target forces fighting with terrorism, it should have definitely considered its consequences and retaliatory reactions," he said.

Shamkhani further said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has paid a considerable price in order to establish regional stability and fight against Takfiri terrorism. Therefore, it cannot remain indifferent to the worrying increase of destabilizing measures by the US, the Zionist regime (Israel) and some of their regional allies."

He once again reiterated that the Iranian military advisors are present in Syria upon a request by the Arab country's government with the purpose of countering the threat of terrorism and playing a decisive role in defeating terrorist groups in the region.

Shamkhani’s remarks come as a senior aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader had previously said that the Israeli regime's recent attack on an air base in the Syrian province of Homs will not go unanswered.

"Definitely, this crime will not remain without a response," Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on international affairs, told IRNA and IRIB on April 10, two days after the Israeli strike.

Two Israeli F-15 warplanes carried out strikes from Lebanese air space on T-4 air base in Homs on April 8 that killed and wounded several people. Syrian air defense systems shot down five out of eight missiles fired.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said at the time that "The Israeli regime's aggression against Syria is a breach of this country's national sovereignty and territorial integrity and runs counter to all international regulations and principles.”

At the same time, the Syrian government warned about the “dangerous repercussions” of Israeli assaults on its territories, stressing that a recent attack on an air base in the Arab country’s province of Homs would not have been possible without massive US support.