The New York Times reported Thursday night that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has given orders to prepare for war with Israel and to respond to Israel's retaliation for Iran's massive ballistic missile attack earlier this month with appropriate force.
Four Iranian officials told the newspaper that the extent of the Iranian response will depend mainly on the extent of the Israeli attacks.
According to the sources, if the Israeli attacks - in response to a barrage of missiles from Iran earlier this month - cause extensive damage and many casualties, Iran will respond with as many as 1,000 ballistic missiles against Israel, more than 5 times as many as it launched in early October in what was already the largest ballistic missile attack in history.
But if Israel limits its attack to a small number of military bases and missile depots and UAVs, Iran may not do anything.
The sources also said that Khamenei ordered a strong response if Israel attacked oil and energy infrastructure or nuclear installations, or if it eliminated senior officials.