"Any attack on infrastructure will be met with retaliation. Israel, responsible for these brutal actions, will not be safe from our forces' retribution," Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, warned today.

Zolghadr's comments came after the US and Iran resumed hostilities in recent days. The US military announced it had targeted 90 Iranian military sites.

Tehran accused Washington of hitting bridges and railway lines connecting the capital Tehran and Mashhad, home of supreme leader Ali Khamenei and also where he is buried. Iranian state media on the evening of 9/7 reported a US and Israel attack on a military headquarters near Bushehr, home to Iran's only civilian nuclear plant.

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr during an interview in December 2020. *Photo: Tasnim*.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on 9/7 that he had spoken by phone with US President Donald Trump and was informed about the latest US actions in the Gulf region.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on the same day that the country was ready to restart operations against Iran if necessary, pledging to do so "with even stronger forces than before".

"The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are on high alert and ready to resume operations, regain air superiority, and carry out an independent Israeli attack against Iran to eliminate threats," Katz said.

CNN cited a source familiar with the matter as saying Prime Minister Netanyahu "really wanted to participate in the US attacks, but Washington did not want Israel to do so." The source added that Israel perceived Trump did not want to return to a full-scale war with Iran and the most he was willing to do was re-impose a blockade on Tehran's seaports.

Location of Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. *Graphic: Guardian*.

By Thanh Tam (Based on reporting by AFP, Al Jazeera, CNN).