Iran's Khamenei Decorates Commander for Israel Attack

A picture provided by Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei's office shows him decorating General Amirali Hajizadeh - AFP
A picture provided by Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei's office shows him decorating General Amirali Hajizadeh - AFP
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Iran's Khamenei Decorates Commander for Israel Attack

A picture provided by Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei's office shows him decorating General Amirali Hajizadeh - AFP
A picture provided by Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei's office shows him decorating General Amirali Hajizadeh - AFP

Iran's supreme leader has decorated the Revolutionary Guards aerospace commander for Iran's missile attacks on arch-foe Israel, Ali Khamenei's website said on Sunday.

"Khamenei presented the Order of Fath ("Conquest" in Farsi) to General Amirali Hajizadeh, commander of the Guards Aerospace Force," it said.

The decoration was bestowed because of "the brilliant 'Honest Promise' operation", the website said, AFP reported.

 

Hajizadeh, 62, has headed the Guards aerospace unit since its creation in 2009.

 

On Tuesday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired some 200 missiles at Israel in retaliation for an Israeli air strike that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and IRGC top general Abbas Nilforoushan in Beirut.

 

It was Iran's second direct attack on Israel in six months, after a missile and drone assault in April in retaliation for a deadly strike on Iran's consulate in Damascus, which Tehran blamed on Israel.

 

Israel has vowed to respond after Tuesday's Iranian missile attack.



Netanyahu Says ‘We Can Finish the Job’ against Iran after Meeting Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
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Netanyahu Says ‘We Can Finish the Job’ against Iran after Meeting Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)

Israel and the United States are determined to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions and its "aggression" in the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Speaking after meeting Rubio in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said they had held a "very productive discussion" on a number of issues, "none more important than Iran".

"Israel and America stand shoulder to shoulder in countering the threat of Iran," he said. "We agreed that the mullahs must not have nuclear weapons and also agreed that Iran's aggression in the region must be rolled back."

Rubio said: "Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilizing activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people that call this region home is Iran."

Israeli-Iranian enmity stretches back decades through a history of clandestine wars and attacks by land, sea, air and cyberspace.

Iran, which says it is enriching uranium for peaceful purposes, has also backed armed groups across the Middle East that describe themselves as the "Axis of Resistance" to Israel and US influence in the region.

The Axis includes not only Hamas, the Palestinian group that ignited the Gaza war by attacking Israel in October 2023, but also the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, the Houthi militias in Yemen, various Shiite armed groups in Iraq and Syria.

Over the 16 months since the Gaza war erupted, Israel has assassinated top leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah and Israel and Iran have exchanged limited retaliatory attacks.

Netanyahu said Israel had dealt a "mighty blow" to Iran since the start of the war in Gaza and said that with the support of US President Donald Trump "I have no doubt we can and will finish the job".

Thanking Rubio for "unequivocal backing" for Israel's policy in Gaza, Netanyahu said Israel and the United States under Trump shared a common strategy in the Palestinian enclave, where a fragile ceasefire is in effect.

"I want to assure everyone who's now listening to us, President Trump and I are working in full cooperation and coordination between us," he said.