Iran said its supreme leader has made the decision to fire dozens of rockets at Israel in retaliation for Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and the recent killings of leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, two of the main groups in Iran’s so-called resistance axis.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the decision was made by Ali Khamenei with the support of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and the Iranian Defense Ministry.

Iran’s mission to the UN said the actions were a “legal, rational and legitimate response to the Zionist regime’s terrorist attacks, attacking Iranian nationals and interests and infringing on Iran’s national sovereignty.”

It added that should Israel “dare to react or commit further acts of malice, a subsequent and crushing response will follow… Regional states and the Zionists’ supporters are advised to part ways with the regime.”

Iranian officials added that more waves of ballistic missiles were ready for use and said the launch of the strikes had been signaled to Western forces in advance.

It was not clear whether Middle Eastern states such as Jordan or Saudi Arabia played a role in safeguarding Israel’s defenses, as they allegedly did when Iran attacked Israel in April in response to the killing of Iranian officials in a consulate in Damascus.

The IRGC said the attack on Israel was in response to both the deaths Friday of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.

Iran’s risky decision to launch ballistic missiles against Israel reflects a growing consensus within Iran’s elite that the decision not to retaliate after Haniyeh’s killing in Tehran in July was a strategic mistake.

Hardliners say the reluctance gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the green light to carry out further assassinations of “resistance leaders.”

They contrasted this with the firm response of the previous government, led by the late then-President Ebrahim Raisi, in April after the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

The current president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said he did not react to Haniyeh’s death because he had been assured that Israel was about to sign a ceasefire within a week or two.

No such deal took place and Pezeshkian felt betrayed.

Iranian officials were also alarmed by Netanyahu’s assertion at the UN last week that one of his war objectives is to impose a change in the balance of power in the Middle East.

Under such circumstances, Iran felt it simply could not abandon Hezbollah and appear weak across the region. In any case, they believed, Netanyahu was determined to climb the escalating ladder, so it was necessary to confront him. Some Gulf states had even claimed that Iran would abandon Hezbollah.

The apparent hardening of tone was first signaled by SNSC Chairman Ali Akbar Ahmadian, who declared early on Tuesday that Iran was at war and claimed that Hezbollah had not been put on the back foot by Israel’s recent string of military and intelligence successes.

Ahmadian instead argued: “The enemy is in a state of desperation and is trying to prove that he is successful with psychological operations, with one or two operations that rely mainly on terror, but there is no such success for him.”

He said that Hezbollah’s work had not been disrupted and that no damage had been caused to Hezbollah and its fighting forces. “After this, Hezbollah will start a new era,” he added.

But that optimistic assessment was not widely shared.

In a sign of the increasing rhetoric, Hamid Rasaei – an ally of Saeed Jalili, the hardliner defeated by the reformist Pezeshkian in Iran’s presidential elections in July – asked: “Why has the Islamic Republic of Iran become passive? in light of the Zionist regime’s threats and aggression following the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh, the prominent figure of Hamas in Iran? Why is this martyr’s demand for blood postponed? Hasn’t this inaction caused the fake regime (Israel) to carry out more attacks? Is not the martyrdom of Hassan Nasrallah, the symbol of religious zeal, the result of this passivity? Won’t these delays make the fake regime more courageous in torturing other resistance leaders?”

He attacked those who “constantly repeat that whatever happens, we will not fall into the trap of war with Israel.”

Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesman for parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, also emphasized that war does not mean fear of Iran. He said: “Some say that, according to the statements of the Zionist authorities, we will cause a war if we respond to the murder of Ismail Haniyeh. I must say that we are not afraid of going to war. We are not warmongers, but we are ready for any war. On the other hand, we are used to the chants of the Zionist regime and are not afraid or concerned about them.”

Alireza Panahian, one of the speakers from Khamenei’s office, said: “If the delay in revenge is due to a more complete destruction and a more terrible blow to the Zionist regime, we will accept it, otherwise we will not accept it .”

Within parliament, there had also been calls from some conservatives for Iran to lift the fatwa on building a nuclear bomb, but Iranian officials played down such rhetoric.

The likelihood that Iran would make such a dramatic strategic move amid the current tension is low, especially since it gives Netanyahu an excuse to attack Iran’s nuclear sites.

Khamenei will lead Friday prayers this week. It will be the first time he has done so since the assassination of Qassem Suleimani, the leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ al-Quds Brigade.

It was also confirmed that Pezeshkian will be in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday. While his critics claim he is excessive, naive or sidelined, he leads a regime that has been under the greatest external pressure for decades.

The government spokesman called for an end to the shooting on Tuesday. She said: “We must remember that our greatest enemy is division within the nation, and if national unity and unity are replaced by division, the smallest threats will cause the greatest danger to us.”