Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a rare sermon delivered before the Friday congregational prayers in Tehran, warned of another strike on Israel "if needed".
The 85-year-old said his country's decision to fire ballistic missiles on Israel's military facilities on Tuesday was a "legitimate" response against the excesses committed by the Israeli forces in Palestine and Lebanon.
"The action taken by our armed forces was just a small response compared to the crimes the bloodthirsty Zionist regime has committed in Gaza," he said.
"Our right to strike at the Zionist entity several days ago was totally legitimate... If needed, in the future, we will strike the Zionist entity again," Khamenei said.
The remarks come amidst widespread criticism of Iran in the West, with the US and several of its European allies accusing the country of pushing the Middle East towards a regional war. "This is a significant escalation by Iran ... there will be severe consequences," US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had said.
Iran had fired over 100 ballistic missiles towards Israel that damaged some of the airbases in the country's southern and central parts. No casualties were reported.
Iran's strikes were preceded by Israel's bombardment in south Beirut, killing Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the chief of Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The flare-up of tensions in the Middle East led to jitters in equity and commodities markets worldwide. The Nasdaq Composite, one of the three main indices of the US stock market, has shed 1.5% since Tuesday.
The Indian market, which was closed on Wednesday on account of a public holiday, faced a decline of over 2% on Thursday. The NSE Nifty 50 companies lost over 4 lakh crore in market capitalisation, whereas, the companies of the 30-stock BSE Sensex faced a cumulative erosion of over Rs 9 lakh crore in m-cap. Apart from the Middle East tensions, the plunge at the Dalal Street was also driven by SEBI's new framework for futures and options trading.
The commodities market also felt the jitters as the conflict holds the potential to disrupt the supply of crude oil. Brent, the global crude benchmark, has climbed by over 10% since the Iranian strikes to cross $78 per barrel. Spot gold prices jumped by over 1%.
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