TEL AVIV – The deputy head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps on Monday said that if Israel attacks Iran, Iran will respond by wiping Israel off the map. 

“We announce that if Israel takes any action to wage a war against us, it will definitely lead to its own elimination and the freeing of occupied (Palestinian) territories,” Brigadier General Hossein Salami said according to a Reuters report that cited Iranian TV.

His comments come in the wake of a series of Israeli strikes against Iranian targets in Syria last week.

Separately, Iran’s military chief of staff said that his country would begin adopting offensive military strategies in an effort to protect its national interests.

“Among the country’s broad strategies, there is a defensive strategy. We defend the independence and territorial integrity and national interests of the country,” Gen. Mohammad Bagheri was quoted as saying by Press TV on Sunday.

“However, this does not mean that we would be acting exclusively defensively and passively in our operational level and tactical approaches,” he added.

He said that while Iran does not seek to seize foreign territory or harm foreign interests, in order “to protect our national achievements and interests, we may adopt an offensive approach.”

Also on Sunday, the commander of the Iranian Army’s Ground Forces, Brig. Gen. Kiumars Heidari, said his troops had turned into a “forward-moving and offensive” force.

“To protect Iran, the armed forces no longer need asymmetric approaches, and we are at a stage where we can defend our homeland … by using good offensive approaches,” Heidari said.

On Saturday, Iran concluded a large-scale military drill, which included offensive exercises involving 12,000 troops, fighter jets, armored vehicles and drones.

Called “war games,” the two-day drill involved newly developed rapid redeployment units focused on fighting enemy aggressors and armed militants, Reuters reported.

The war games showcased “two important developments: a special-forces rapid deployment battalion and a highly mobile offensive armored battalion,” General Heidari said.

He added that Iran’s enemies faced a “rapid and crushing blow.”