Tehran will "accelerate" arming Palestinians in the West Bank in retaliation for Israel deploying a spy drone over Iran, which was shot down, a military commander said Monday.
"We will accelerate the arming of the West Bank and we reserve the right to give any response," said Gen. Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, commander of aerial forces of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, in a statement on their website. The warning comes a day after the Guard said it had brought down an Israeli stealth drone above the Natanz uranium enrichment site in the center of the country.
The downed aircraft was of the stealth, radar-evasive type and it intended to penetrate the off-limits nuclear area in Natanz ... but was targeted by a ground-to-air missile before it managed to enter the area," state news agency ISNA said, citing a statement by the Revolutionary Guard. The Natanz facility is one issue at the heart of a long-running dispute between Iran and countries that believe it is seeking nuclear weapons capability.
Iran and six world powers are currently trying to negotiate an end to the standoff which has led to damaging economic sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic.
