Tehran, March 4 (). Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday claimed to have launched its 17th wave of attacks on US and Israeli targets. Local media quoted the IRGC as saying that its ground forces responded to Israeli-US attacks against Iran with three major operations. On Wednesday, 40 missiles were fired at Israel.
Announcing another phase of Operation True Promise 4 on Wednesday, an IRGC spokesman said that immediately after the joint Israeli-US attacks, its ground forces had fired more than 230 drones at occupied lands and US bases in the area.
“Dozens of drones were fired at US military bases in Erbil and Kuwait,” the statement said.
The IRGC claimed that a new wave of Iranian retaliatory attacks had weakened a major US air base in Bahrain; Command centers were destroyed in the attacks.
Referring to Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, it said Iran has a legal right to defend itself against “acts of attack” by the US or Israeli government.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, it was announced that Khamenei’s son Mojtaba had been elected as the country’s supreme leader. According to Tasnim News Agency, Iran’s Expert Assembly appointed him to this post. On Saturday, the same day as US-Israel joint air strikes on Tehran, many of Iran’s top commanders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were killed.
According to an exclusive report by Iran International, this selection was made under pressure from the powerful IRGC. Sources said that due to the current war situation, a full meeting of the Expert Assembly was not possible, hence the decision was taken through virtual meetings and internal consultation.
The report says that his selection for this post is being considered politically sensitive. The reason for this is that his father Ali Khamenei was killed in joint attacks by America and Israel a few days ago. After these attacks, tension and conflict have increased throughout the Middle East.
A three-day condolence program in memory of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will also begin in Tehran from 12 midnight (Indian time) on Wednesday night. According to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, people will gather at the Grand Mosallah in Tehran to pay tribute to him.
—
kr/