Tehran and Tel Aviv have no diplomatic relations, with Iran refusing to recognise the Jewish state and Israel pledging to do its best to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining a nuclear weapon, among other bilateral barbs.

The Chief Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Major General Hossein Salami, has warned in an interview with the al-Mayadeen news network that Tehran will respond in kind to “any act of evil” by Israel.

“The evil deeds committed by the Zionists in the region will turn against them and expose Israel to real dangers in the future. If they continue committing them, they will draw closer and closer to collapse”, Salami argued, insisting that “all the conditions for the collapse” of the Jewish state “are ready”.

He spoke a few days after Mohammad Baqeri, chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, vowed retaliation for any possible move by Israel to target what the general described as a “resistance front”, an apparent reference to an alleged alliance between Iran, the Syrian government, and the militant group Hezbollah.