According to the report, the American intelligence indicates that Iran is planning a retaliatory attack that would include a swarm of Shaheed loitering drones and cruise missiles.
Officials quoted in the report say the timing and target are unknown, but a proportional response to the Damascus attack would be to hit an Israeli diplomatic facility.
The attack is likely to come between now and the end of Ramadan next week, according to CBS News.
Another important unknown is where the drones and missiles would be launched — from Iraq or Syria, which could prompt a thin claim of deniability by Tehran — or from Iranian territory.
Iran’s deputy UN ambassador Zahra Ershadi on Tuesday vowed that Iran would respond to the strike. Ershadi accused Israel of threatening regional and international peace and declared that “the United States is responsible for all crimes committed by the Israeli regime.”
A day later, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a threat to Israel and said it would “be slapped” for the strike.
Khamenei also subsequently threatened Israel in a post in Hebrew on X, in which he wrote, “With God's help we will make the Zionists regret their crime of aggression against the Iranian consulate in Damascus.”
