Israel’s airstrikes on Iran should not be magnified nor downplayed, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday.
While Israel would like to amplify the impacts of its actions against Iran, Khamenei said, it would also not be right for Iran to dismiss the strikes as insignificant.
Khamenei said that those who believe Iran should avoid producing weapons in order to avoid provoking backlash are misguided. Keeping a country weak does not maintain its security, he said.
The Iranian leader also condemned Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, as well as the international community for enabling them.
“War operates within a framework of rules, laws, and limitations. These limitations can’t just be disregarded during a war. However, the criminal gang ruling over the occupied lands has trampled all boundaries and rules underfoot,” he said.
Key context: Both Iranian and Israeli officials appeared deliberate Saturday in their initial framing of Israel’s retaliation for Tehran’s major missile attack earlier this month.
Israel’s public posture immediately after the strikes was relatively muted. That was intentional, a source familiar with the Israeli government’s thinking said, aimed at giving Iran the opportunity to downplay the strikes and avoid further escalation.
Iran’s government seemed to seize that opportunity, claiming the strikes caused only limited damage at military sites, even as it acknowledged that four Iranian soldiers were killed.
CNN’s Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report.
