Following the death of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Sayyed Razi Mousavi yesterday, Ali Akbar Dareini, a researcher at the Centre For Strategic Studies, told Al Jazeera that there is “no way Iran is not going to respond to this act of terrorism”.

“Killing a top Iranian general in a foreign land is a violation of international law. Israel has stepped one move further into the red zone, it has crossed the red line, so Iran will retaliate. But how Iran is going to retaliate to this assassination is not clear at this point,” Dareini said.

“It could be in terms of Iranian allies attacking Israel, it could be an act of revenge from within Israel, and it could be an Iranian expansion of its nuclear programme. So there are a number of options Iran has, but Iran is not going to show any emotional reaction. Iran’s retaliation will be based on calculations,” Dareini added.