IRGC warns of 'tit-for-tat' retaliation if Israel attacks Iran's nuclear facilities

An IRGC official has warned that if Israel takes action against Iran's nuclear facilities, it will definitely face "tit-for-tat" retaliation against the regime's nuclear centers with advanced weapons.

"If the Zionist regime decides to take action against our nuclear facilities and centers, it will definitely face our reaction," head of the Nuclear Protection and Security Corps Gen. Ahmad Haqtalab said on Thursday, adding "for a tit-for-tat retaliation, the regime's nuclear facilities will be attacked with advanced weapons".

Haqtalab issued the stern warning after Israeli officials' suggestions of a possible attack on Iran's nuclear facilities following the Islamic Republic's Operation True Promise to "punish" Tel Aviv for assassinating Iranian military advisors in Damascus.    

"If the fake Zionist regime decides to use the threat of attacking our country's nuclear centers as a tool to put pressure on Iran, it is possible and conceivable to revise the nuclear doctrine and policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran and deviate from the previously declared considerations," he added.  

Iran's nuclear doctrine has been peaceful, leaving no room for the creation or possession of nuclear weapons.

Gen. Haqtalab said, "The nuclear centers of the Zionist enemy have been identified and the necessary information about all the targets is at our disposal, and in order to respond to their possible actions, the hands are on the trigger, so to speak, for firing powerful missiles to destroy the identified targets."

After violating all international laws and regulations in a criminal act by attacking the consular section of the Islamic Republic's embassy in Syria, Israel "was not thought to threaten to attack our nuclear facilities in another desperate move," Haqtalab said.   

"Thanks to ... our highly advanced facilities and equipment, as well as due to the dispersion of our country's nuclear facilities and complexes in the vast land of Iran, we are ready to deal with any threat from the Zionist regime," he said.

Haqtalab said Israel's threats are not new and "the fake Zionist regime, in addition to threats, has engaged in sabotage and terrorist acts" against Iran's nuclear industry before.

"Although, based on international protocols and standards and the rules and regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, all countries have been prevented from attacking nuclear facilities, the Islamic Republic of Iran has always been prepared to deal with these threats from the very beginning," he said.

Haqtalab echoed Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, saying the "era of hit and run has passed".

"If the Zionist regime does an act of aggression against Iran, the type of response will be with the planning of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.

"They [Israel] should be sure that the blow they receive from the armed forces will be remembered in history like Operation True Promise," he added.

Gen. Haqtalab also said, "We assure the dear and noble people of Iran that ... nuclear centers of our country are completely safe."

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