Iran is planning a “harsh, unimaginable” response to Israeli attacks as the Middle East conflict escalates

Concerns about an Iran-Israeli war continued in the Middle East this week, with both sides threatening harsh retaliation. Senior Iranian officials have hinted at plans to launch an “unimaginable” response to recent Israeli attacks in the coming days. Meanwhile, Tel Aviv insisted it would hit back “very hard” if Tehran launched a new attack.

It was not immediately clear when such an attack would take place, as conflicting reports emerged this week. According to a New York Times report quoting officials in agreement, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Monday ordered plans to be drawn up by his Supreme National Security Council. The release said that a retaliatory strike would not occur until after the US elections on November 5th.

“Iran’s response to Zionist aggression is clear. We have not left any aggression unanswered in 40 years. “We are capable of destroying everything the Zionists own in one operation,” local media reported General Ali Fadavi, the deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, as saying.

US news site Axios also cited two unidentified Israeli sources on Thursday to report that Iran was preparing to attack Israel from Iraq within days.

Meanwhile, the United States on Friday announced the deployment of additional military assets to the Middle East – including ballistic missile destroyers and B-52 long-range bombers – a warning to Iran, which has been trading strikes with Israel.

Oil prices also rose 2% on Friday on rumors of the retaliation, although benchmarks remained set for a weekly decline. Brent is on track to end the week down almost 2%, after falling 6% on Monday after Israel's Oct. 26 attack bypassed oil and nuclear facilities.

The two countries have engaged in a series of counterattacks as part of the broader Middle East war sparked by fighting in Gaza. Previous Iranian airstrikes on Israel on October 1 and April were largely repelled and caused little damage.

(With contributions from agencies)