Israel’s Defense Minister Warns Iran in Farsi After Quds Force Threats

Defense Minister Israel Katz responded on Friday to repeated threats from Iranian Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani with a post in Farsi aimed directly at him. Katz warned that if Iran attacks Israel, it will be Tehran’s biggest mistake to date, and said, “Nothing will stop us,” adding that Israeli forces are ready to finish the job.

In the post, Katz also mocked Qaani, saying that the image of a “collaborator” would have suited him much better than his “ridiculous threat suit.” He was referring to online conspiracy claims that Qaani is a Mossad agent because he has survived several assassination attempts. Katz said that in the event of an Iranian strike, “their Hormuz and firing at the population will not help them here.”

His comments came one day after Qaani issued a direct threat to Israel in Iranian state media, demanding that Israel withdraw from all of Lebanon and warning that if it does not do so voluntarily, “tomorrow it will be forced to flee in humiliation and defeat.”

The exchange comes amid diplomatic talks in Washington over a possible settlement with Lebanon. Those discussions include the option of a limited, controlled Israeli withdrawal from a sector in southern Lebanon, alongside the entry of Lebanese army forces under monitoring and oversight mechanisms. In Jerusalem, officials say the move is intended to test whether the Lebanese army can prevent Hezbollah from entrenching itself in the area, not because Israel is being forced to pull back.