Israel attack ‘should neither be exaggerated nor minimized,’ Iran’s Khamenei says

Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday said Israel’s attack on the Islamic Republic “should neither be exaggerated nor minimized.”

“The evil perpetrated by the Zionist regime [Israel] two nights ago must not be exaggerated or minimized,” he said in a post on X.

Without elaborating, he described the deadly attack as a “miscalculation.”

On Saturday, Israel carried out air strikes against military sites in Iran in response to Tehran’s missile attack on October 1, itself a retaliation for the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders and an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander.

At least four Iranian soldiers were killed in the attack which Iran said caused “limited damage” to a few radar systems.

The Israeli military has warned Tehran against responding.

Iranian officials and media have since downplayed the Israeli strikes, highlighting Iran’s defensive capabilities but issued no vows of a direct response.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian paid tribute to the killed soldiers, hailing their efforts in “defending their land without fear.”