Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday told the West to “get lost” from the Middle East after his country launched a massive barrage of missiles at Israel — as Israeli officials vowed payback within days over the Iranian strikes.
As the Middle East inched closer to a long-feared all-out war, the terror-supporting Iranian leader blamed the current escalation on the “US and some European countries” that “falsely claim they bring peace and tranquility to the region,” the Telegraph reported.
He added that Iran was hopeful of getting “rid of the enemies’ evil” and urged Western nations to “cut their badness.”
Khamenei’s remarks to a crowd in Tehran came just hours after he ordered nearly 200 ballistic missiles be fired at the Jewish state late Tuesday — dozens of which penetrated air defenses and struck Tel Aviv and other heavily populated areas.
While Israel and the US quickly promised to retaliate against Tehran’s latest assault, Iran doubled down Wednesday and vowed to carry out even more crushing attacks on infrastructure if the threats were followed through on.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Israel would face a harsh reaction if it didn’t stop what he called “its crimes.”
Hours earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Iran had “made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it.”
Meanwhile, the violence continued to escalate on the Israel-Lebanon border Wednesday as Israeli troops stepped up the pressure on the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The Israeli military said regular infantry and armored units were now joining its ground operations in Lebanon.
The military has previously insisted that its ground operation is largely aimed at destroying Hezbollah tunnels and other infrastructure on the border — and there were no plans for a wider operation targeting Beirut or major cities in Lebanon’s south.
Hezbollah, on its part, said it was clashing with Israeli forces in the border town of Maroun el-Ras Wednesday after it had pushed back troops near another border town.
The terror group said it had also fired rockets at military posts inside Israel.
The Iranian missile strikes and Israel’s operations in Lebanon have sparked global alarm — with Western leaders quickly mobilizing military resources as the threat of a wider conflict looms.
“France condemns the attack on Israel by ballistic missiles fired from Iran. It reiterates its absolute commitment to the security of Israel. It participated through its military means in the Middle East to counter the Iranian threat,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “Iran is risking setting the entire region on fire – this must be prevented at all costs. Hezbollah and Iran must immediately cease their attacks on Israel.”
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