THE chief of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said today Israel would be hit with more missile barrages if it strikes Iran.

The message was delivered by General Hossein Salami at a funeral ceremony for Iranian Guard commander Abbas Nilforoushan, who was killed alongside Hezbollah general secretary Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut in September.

The general said: “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.”

General Salami said that a missile barrage by Iran on Israel earlier in October in retaliation for the killing of Mr Nasrallah and Mr Nilforoushan was the “tiniest” action by Iran. 

He said that an air defence battery deployed to Israel by the United States will not prevent Iranian retaliation.

“We do know about your weakness, and you know too,” said General 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 for Mr Nasrallah and Mr Nilforoushan. Missiles struck Israeli air bases, demonstrating Iran’s ability to overwhelm Tel Aviv’s famous “iron dome” air defence system.

Meanwhile the Israeli military said today that it has killed a local Hezbollah commander in a southern Lebanese town near the border.

The Israelis said that an air strike on Bint Jbeil killed Hussein Awada, who it claimed was in charge of firing projectiles into Israel.

Also today, the Israeli military warned people to stay away from two buildings in the eastern villages of Saraaine and Tamnine, in the Bekaa Valley, where Israel has carried out scores of air strikes over the past two weeks.

But Hezbollah has remained defiant in the face of the losses of many in its leadership.

Legislator Hassan Fadlallahl said that the aim of the group’s military command is to keep fighting “with all available means” to prevent Israel from achieving its goals and to eventually agree on a ceasefire.

Legislator Hassan Fadlallah told reporters that since Israel’s invasion of Lebanon began on October 1, Israeli troops have not been able to capture any village.

Mr Fadlallah said the aim of his group now is to stop the war but he refused to go into details saying that Lebanon’s parliament speaker and caretaker prime minister are leading the efforts.

“Our goal today is to end the aggression. We will not go into any detail related to the mechanism or solutions,” he said when asked whether Hezbollah still insists that it will only stop fighting once Israel’s offensive on Gaza stops.