Mostafa Khamenei, center, brother of Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, leads a prayer over the coffin of his late father, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei before his burial at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, Thursday. AP-Yonhap
TEHRAN — Iran will respond to any attack against its infrastructure, including by striking Israel, the head of the country's top security body said on Friday, as Tehran and Washington have resumed fighting this week.
"Any attack on infrastructure will be retaliated against, and the criminal Zionist regime responsible for these atrocities will not be safe from the response of our fighters," Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr said in a statement carried by state TV.
Fighting picked up again this week between the U.S. and Iran in the most significant exchange of fire since the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17, seeking to formalize an April ceasefire and guide talks to conclusively end the war.
The U.S. military carried out heavy strikes overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, saying it targeted 90 military sites.
