'Iran will pay for it': Netanyahu vows to punish Tehran for missile attack on Israel

After Iran launched an unprecedented ballistic missile attack on Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to make Tehran pay a heavy price.

In a message in Hebrew along with senior officials, Netanyahu invoked the fates of terrorist leaders Mohammed Deif of Hamas and Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah and said leaders in Tehran would similarly pay the price.

“This evening, Iran made a big mistake – and it will pay for it. The regime in Tehran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and to exact a price from our enemies. Sinwar and Deif did not understand this; neither did Nasrallah or Mohsen. Apparently, there are those in Tehran who do not understand this either,” said Netanyahu.

Iran on Tuesday evening launched 180 ballistic missiles at Israel. Unlike April when Iran had indirectly warned Israel days ahead of the attack and had used lower-intensity projectiles that took hours to reach Israel, the Tuesday’s attack had a very short window for Israel to act and comprised some of the most advanced Iranian ballistic missiles that reached Israel within minutes of launch from Iran.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Start of the Security Cabinet Meeting:

"This evening, Iran made a big mistake – and it will pay for it." pic.twitter.com/D7XYpDmiuJ

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 1, 2024

‘Forces of light must unite against Ayatollahs’ dark regime’

Netanyahu trained guns at the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and said that the world must unite against his regime.

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Netanyahu dubbed the Supreme Leader-led Iranian regime as the “source of terror and evil in our region”. He urged the “forces of light” in the world to unite against Khamenei’s regime of darkness.

“Today, more than ever, the forces of light in the world must unite and work together against the ayatollahs’ dark regime, which is the source of terror and evil in our region. They must stand alongside Israel. The choice has never been more clear, between tyranny and freedom, between the blessing and the curse,” said Netanyahu.

Israel and Iran are archenemies. The Iranian regime, following the Islamist takeover following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, considers Israel along with the United States to be its principal adversary and rejects its right to exist. It is committed to the destruction of the State of Israel and considers it a “cancerous tumour” that must be eradicated.

“Our stance against Israel is the same stance we have always taken. Israel is a malignant cancerous tumor in the West Asian region that has to be removed and eradicated: it is possible and it will happen,” said Khameni on X (formerly Twitter) in 2018 in a reiteration of the regime’s commitment to Israel’s destruction.

Dubbing Iran and groups it supports in the region as the “axis of evil”, Netanyahu said that Israel will do whatever it takes to keep the momentum.

“We will keep to the rule we have determined: Whoever attacks us – we attack them. This is true wherever we fight the axis of evil. It is true in Judea and Samaria. It is true in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria – and it is also true in Iran. We are fighting the axis of evil everywhere, including in southern Lebanon and Gaza, where our heroic soldiers are active,” said Netanyahu.