As tensions continue to escalate in the Middle East, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a stern warning on Thursday, September 3, stating that if Tehran authorities attack Israel, the Israeli side will retaliate with full force against Iran’s energy and other infrastructures, ultimately plunging Iran “back to the Stone Age and into darkness.”
Katz emphasized during his speech at the Ministry of Defense that once Iran initiates hostilities, Israel will no longer be constrained by any limitations on its response.
According to Reuters, Katz stated, “An attack on Israel by Iran will release Israel from all existing restrictions in responding to Iran.”
He added, “We will paralyze all of Iran’s national, military, and civilian infrastructures, including energy infrastructures, sending Iran back to the Stone Age and into darkness completely.”
Reported by The Times of Israel, Katz mentioned that the Israeli Defense Forces are prepared on both defensive and offensive fronts. He pointed out that signs indicate the escalating economic pressure within Iran, as well as the fear of anti-government uprisings and regime collapse, could push the Tehran regime into “desperate measures.”
Israeli news website Ynet quoted Katz as saying that the Tehran authorities “like to launch attacks during holidays.” The Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) is set to begin in the evening of September 11, while the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, will commence in the evening of September 20. Iran had previously launched attacks against Israel during the Passover holiday in April this year.
While Katz issued the warning, tensions between the U.S. and Iran in the region are spiraling upward. Katz noted, “Currently, apart from us, they (Iran) are striking the entire region.”
This week witnessed the most intense escalation in firing between the U.S. and Iran since July. The U.S. military struck targets along Iran’s southern coast, while Iran launched artillery attacks on multiple U.S. military bases across the Middle East.
The Kuwaiti military stated on Thursday that they are intercepting missiles and drones coming from Iran; while the Iranian military claimed to have “used missiles and drones to hit Kuwait’s Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base.” The Iranian military also claimed to have hit the Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, though UAE officials reported no attacks.
Kuwait condemned these attacks as a “direct threat to its national security, stability, and the safety of its residents, violating international legal norms.”
The war between the U.S., Israel, and Iran erupted on February 28 of this year when both countries launched “Operation Epic Fury” to curb Iran’s ongoing nuclear program development and eliminated Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Following a subsequent ceasefire agreement, due to Iran’s continued attacks and disruptions on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz (through which one-fifth of global oil supply passes), the fragile agreement eventually collapsed in July.
Apart from direct military actions, the U.S. is intensifying economic sanctions against Iran and warning of secondary sanctions against its trading partners. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright promised on Wednesday to exert “absolute maximum pressure” on Iran through expanded secondary sanctions, also known as the economic version of D-Day by the finance and energy sectors.