Iran will respond against Israel if infrastructure attacked: security official

TEHRAN (AFP) -- Iran will respond to any attack against its infrastructure, including by striking Israel, the head of the country’s top security body said on Friday, as Tehran and Washington have resumed fighting this week.

“Any attack on infrastructure will be retaliated against, and the criminal Zionist regime responsible for these atrocities will not be safe from the response of our fighters,” Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr said in a statement carried by state TV.

Fighting picked up again this week between the US and Iran in the most significant exchange of fire since the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17, seeking to formalise an April ceasefire and guide talks to conclusively end the war.

The US military carried out heavy strikes overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, saying it targeted 90 military sites.

But the Islamic republic accused Washington of also targeting civilian infrastructure in order to detract from the funeral of late supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Bridges and railway links between the capital Tehran and Khamenei’s hometown of Mashhad, where he was buried on Thursday, were hit, according to Iran.

Iranian authorities say 17 people have been killed in US strikes.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the Israeli prime minister spoke on Thursday with the US president, who informed him of the latest American moves in the Gulf.

Later on Thursday evening, Iranian state media reported a US-Israeli attack on a military headquarters near Bushehr, where Iran’s only civilian nuclear plant is located.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel was prepared to resume its military campaign against Iran if needed, vowing to do so “with even greater force”.