Israel has threatened Iran with "the upper hand" if it targets Israelis abroad, and called on its citizens to leave the Turkish city of Istanbul as soon as possible in light of Israeli reports that they may be targeted by Iranian parties.
"Our message to Iran is that the upper arm of Israel will reach those who harm our citizens, regardless of where they are," Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in a press statement on Monday.
Lapid asked the Israelis not to travel to Istanbul, and also not to go to Turkey if it was not necessary, and spoke of a real danger of attacks targeting Israeli tourists in Turkey by killing or kidnapping them.
He also called on those in Istanbul to return immediately.
Lapid thanked the Turkish authorities for their role in protecting the Israelis, and expressed his hope for "the return of security stability", so that the Israelis could return to Turkey.
Simultaneously, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced today, Monday, that the Anti-Terrorism Authority had raised the travel warning to Istanbul to the highest level.
The spokesman said that lifting the warning comes in light of Iranian attempts to strike Israeli targets in the world, especially Turkey.
For its part, the Israeli National Security Council said that the Israelis should leave Istanbul as soon as possible.
These statements come amid Israeli reports that the Israeli Mossad, in cooperation with Turkish intelligence, thwarted Iranian attempts to harm Israeli targets on Turkish soil.
The Anti-Terrorism Authority in the Israeli government said that the Israelis' travel warning was due to the possibility of being targeted in attacks in Turkey, against the backdrop of the killing of a number of Iranian scientists and officers.
And the Israeli National Security Council issued a warning about two weeks ago to the Israelis against traveling to Turkey, after the assassination of Hassan Sayyad Khudaei, a leader in the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Tehran accused Tel Aviv of being behind the assassination of Khodaei, and vowed to respond.
Iranian response
In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said today, Monday, that Tehran's response to Israel's actions will be in its place, and not in a third country.
Khatibzadeh added - during a press conference - that Israel should realize that Tehran will not tolerate any party regarding its security in the region.
The Israeli Chief of Staff, Aviv Kohavi, said that the Israeli army deals with 6 battlefronts, and faces a large number of diverse threats.
Kochavi added - at the National Home Front Conference - that the most serious threats are a potential nuclear threat from Iran, and the threat of missiles and missiles from all fronts.
He added that the Israeli army has identified thousands of targets that it will destroy in the missile and missile system owned by what he described as the "enemy" during a possible new war on Lebanon.