Iranian Commander Repeats Threats to Israel

This picture shows projectiles being intercepted by Israel near the northern city of Baqa al-Gharbiya on October 1, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
This picture shows projectiles being intercepted by Israel near the northern city of Baqa al-Gharbiya on October 1, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
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Iranian Commander Repeats Threats to Israel

This picture shows projectiles being intercepted by Israel near the northern city of Baqa al-Gharbiya on October 1, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
This picture shows projectiles being intercepted by Israel near the northern city of Baqa al-Gharbiya on October 1, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

The chief of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Israel on Thursday with more missile barrages if it strikes Iran.
“Do not repeat your mistake — if you misbehave, if you strike anything of ours either in the region or in Iran, we will again hit you painfully,” said Gen. Hossein Salami in a funeral ceremony for Iranian Guard commander Abbas Nilforoushan, who was killed alongside the head of the Hezbollah militant group in Beirut in September.
Salami said a missile barrage by Iran on Israel earlier in October in retaliation for killing Nasrallah and Nilforoushan was the “tiniest” action by Iran. He said an air defense battery deployed to Israel by the US will not prevent Iranian retaliation, The Associated Press said.
“We do know about your weakness, and you know too,” said Salami.
Earlier this month, Iran launched some 180 missiles at Israel in retaliation for the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, killed in Iran in July, as well as Nilforoushan and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who were killed in Israel strikes on Beirut in September.
Iran is the main backer of Hezbollah and supports militant groups opposed to Israel across the region including Hamas.



Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
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Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)

An Italian journalist detained in Iran since Dec. 19 and whose fate became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States was freed Wednesday and is heading home, Italian officials announced.

A plane carrying Cecilia Sala took off from Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels,” Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office said, adding that Meloni had informed Sala's parents of the news.

There was no immediate word from the Iranian government on the journalist’s release.

Sala, a 29-year-old reporter for the Il Foglio daily, was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19, three days after she arrived on a journalist visa. She was accused of violating the laws of the country, the official IRNA news agency said.

Italian commentators had speculated that Iran was holding Sala as a bargaining chip to ensure the release of Mohammad Abedini, who was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport three days before on Dec. 16, on a US warrant.

The US Justice Department accused him and another Iranian of supplying the drone technology to Iran that was used in a January 2024 attack on a US outpost near the Syrian-Jordanian border that killed three American troops.

He remains in detention in Italy.