IRANIAN Revolutionary Guard commander General Hossein Salami vowed today that “no threat will go unanswered” in retaliation for the Israeli air strike that destroyed his country’s consulate in Damascus.

Seven Revolutionary guard members, including two generals, were killed during the attacks in the Syrian capital.

Thousands of mourners chanted “death to Israel” and “death to America” during the officers’ funeral procession in Tehran.

The march in the Iranian capital, along with protests in other cities across Iran, took place at a time of heightened concerns about possible Iranian retribution for Monday’s strike, which killed 12 people, including four Syrian citizens and a member of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, according to officials.

The protesters in Tehran headed to the city’s university, where Gen Salami warned Iran’s enemies that “no enemy act against our holy system will go unanswered.”

He added: “The collapse of [the Israeli regime] is very possible and close with God’s grace,” adding that the United States has become “wildly hated” by the world, and especially in Muslim countries, for supporting Israel.

The public funeral coincided with Iran’s annual rally for Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, a traditional show of support for the Palestinians that has been held on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan since the 1979 revolution.