Iran's response to Israeli consulate attack 'is coming': Nasrallah
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivers a speech via video during a gathering to commemorate Al Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) in a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, April 5, 2024. (EPA Photo)


Iranian retaliation for Israel's attack on its diplomatic mission in Damascus is coming inevitably, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese movement Hezbollah, said Friday.

Nasrallah, during a rally to mark Al Quds Day (Jerusalem Day), described the Israeli attack on the Iranian Embassy compound in Damascus earlier this week as a "turning point" with consequences.

On Monday, two brigadier generals and five other members of Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) were killed in an airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

According to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, six Syrian citizens were also killed.

Israel has not commented on the incident so far.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah is not afraid of any war with Israel and is "well prepared."

"We have not used the main weapons nor the main forces," he said.

The Hezbollah leader spoke to a crowd gathered at the group's stronghold in a southern Beirut suburb. He appeared, as usual, via video link. Hezbollah fighters were clad in military fatigues, and some wore masks in the crowd.

He called on his people to be prepared and ready.

"If they (Israelis) want a war, we say to them ... welcome," Nasrallah vowed.

Nasrallah reiterated his stance that the Lebanese front near the Israeli border in south Lebanon is linked to the Gaza war. "When the war stops in Gaza, it will stop here," he added.