Iran views the U.S. as an accomplice in Israel's strikes Thursday night on the Islamic republic's nuclear and military facilities, said a representative of the general staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, according to Russian news sources.
The representative also said Iran will respond harshly to the strikes, the news sources reported. According to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, Brig. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi said Israel will face a heavy response to the strikes, which he said were conducted with U.S. support.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized Thursday night that the U.S. was not involved in Israel's Operation Rising Lion airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
"Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran," Rubio said in a statement released by the White House. "We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region.
"Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense. President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel."
Trump administration special envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly warned Senate Republicans last week that an Iranian response to an Israel strike on its nuclear facilities could cause massive casualties.
According to U.S. intelligence, Iran has 2,000 ballistic missiles with warheads that can carry 2,000 pounds of explosives or more. Israel is within range of many of those missiles.
On Wednesday, Iran's minister of defense claimed Iran developed a new ballistic missile with a 4,000-pound warhead. The U.S. believes Iran has significantly increased production of ballistic missiles to about 50 a month since its last ballistic missile strike on Israel in October. The official said Iran's goal is to produce more ballistic missiles than Israel's number of missile defense interceptors.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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