‘Iran needs to accept new reality,’ says Israel's ambassador Reuven Azar

Israel's ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, said that while the government wants peace in the region, it is not prepared for direct or indirect Iranian attacks.

In an interview with a leading news agency on Oct 26, he said this was one of the messages his nation wanted to convey to Iran regarding its earlier strikes that day.

He also warned that Tehran may attack many more Iranian installations if it decides to escalate.

“What Israel did was a very precise strike that took out Iran's air defense systems and targeted military installations connected to their missile and drone programs. The signal here is very clear: Israel will not agree to continue being attacked by Iran, either directly or indirectly (hinting at Iran's proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah, with which Israel is already engaged in conflicts),” the ambassador said.

Azar claimed that Iran is now exposed and that Israel is not concerned about remarks made by the Tehrani regime threatening a "proportionate reaction" to the Israeli operation.

"We are ready for it. We are completely coordinating with our allies, especially the United States, which is fully backing our moves,” the ambassador said.

“It is very clear that Israel could have done much more to inflict damage on Iran, but it chose to limit its response out of responsibility because we want to stay focused on this operation that the Israeli cabinet has determined—to completely eradicate the military capabilities of Hamas, to bring back our hostages, and to ensure Hamas doesn't rearm," he added.

"The goal is to re-establish Israeli communities in the areas where they were evacuated due to Hezbollah attacks in the north, where Israel shares a border with Lebanon," the envoy added.

He warned, saying, "We are operating there as well; we have uprooted the military infrastructure that Hezbollah has created there for decades. We will not agree to let Iran intervene and attack Israel. If they continue doing that, Israel will feel free to act in a much more decisive manner.”

In response to a question about whether Israel is engaged in an endless conflict, Azar said that although it may appear that way, his nation is protecting itself and has put Hamas in a position where it can no longer launch missile attacks against it, and Hezbollah's leadership has been overthrown. Iran now needs to "accept the new reality."

"If they don't accept the new reality and come to the table to create a more stable situation in our region, they will pay the price," he said.

The envoy said that diplomatic channels are always open and highlighted that Israel did not start the war; it began after Hamas's assaults on Oct 7, 2023.

"We want to restore peace in our region. We are prepared for diplomacy, but it has to be based on the understanding that the other side recognizes Israel will be relentless,” the ambassador said.

“We will not rest until we are sure that assurances for our security are met, and we will maintain the right to self-defense against any aggression in the future," he added.

Azar remarked that he was pleased to see Tehran "downplaying" the limited damage from the Israeli attack and the effectiveness of its defense systems, suggesting it might indicate Iran's lack of interest in escalating the aggression.

"Anyone who knows about military capabilities knows that the S-300 (air defense system) that the Iranians have is not capable of stopping the F-35s and F-16s of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and cannot prevent our pilots from hitting any targets they want,” he said.

“So they can continue saying what they want, but the situation is very clear, and the message has been conveyed in a very clear way," he added.

Previously, on Oct 21, Azar said that Israel had destroyed the missile factories of Hamas and sealed the border between the Gaza Strip and Sinai, making it very difficult for the Palestinian militant group to rearm.

Earlier, Iran launched a large-scale attack, firing at least 200 missiles at Israel while warning that “the barrage will be repeated with greater intensity, and all infrastructure of the regime will be targeted” if Israel retaliated in any manner.

Iran claimed the attack on Israel was a response to the killings of the leaders of its allies, Hezbollah and Hamas.

The missile attack came hours after Israeli forces began a ground invasion in southern Lebanon to remove what the military described as "Hezbollah terror targets” in border villages that posed a threat to residents of northern Israel.

Iranian Ambassador to India Iraj Elahi earlier said that India can play a vital role in convincing Israel to cease fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah, as the escalating tension in the Middle East will not benefit any regional countries, including the international economy.

In one of the deadliest attacks on Israel, the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group on Oct 13 fired a drone in the central-northern region, killing at least four Israeli soldiers and injuring seven others.

The drone attack came a day after an Israeli airstrike killed at least 22 Palestinians, including children sheltering at a school in the central Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said on Oct 17 that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar—who ordered the deadly Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of at least 1,200 people—might have been killed in a recent operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, which was later confirmed by the Palestinian group on Oct 18.

In another attack on Oct 22, the IDF confirmed killing Hezbollah's likely successor, Hashem Safieddine, in a southern Beirut suburb.

Recently, on the morning of Oct 26, Israel launched "precise strikes" targeting Iran's military in response to the Oct 1 missile attack from Tehran, during which it fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel.