Iran will attack Israel again if necessary, supreme leader says in rare speech

In a rare speech on Friday, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in Tehran that the Iranian missile attack on Israel was the “least punishment.”

He added that Iran will attack Israel again if necessary.

Israeli strikes in Beirut overnight targeted Hashem Safieddine, a potential successor to late Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, an Israeli official told CNN. It’s unclear if he was killed.

Israel’s aerial campaign in Lebanon is being conducted at an intensity comparable only to the first weeks of its bombardment in Gaza last year.

An air warfare expert told CNN the Hezbollah rocket left heavy damage in northern Israel.

An Israeli airstrike halted traffic near the main Lebanon-Syria border crossing, a Lebanese official said.

Tens of thousands have fled via the checkpoint as one million displaced people seek safety from bombardment.