If Israel gives Iran an excuse it will hasten its own destruction, the commander of Iran’s Aerospace Force said at a memorial ceremony in Tehran on Thursday.

General Amirali Hajizadeh said that Israeli officials are well aware they can start a conflict, but Iran will be the one to bring it to its conclusion, which is “the destruction of the Zionist regime”.

Hajizadeh was speaking at a ceremony to mark the death of Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, one of Iran’s earliest missile architects, who was killed when a huge explosion rocked a missile base 30 miles from Tehran in November 2012.

Moghaddam was among 17 top IRGC officers killed that day, in what many believed was an operation by Israeli intelligence. The incident was so shocking that even Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei attended the funeral at the time.

Hajizadeh also praised the advances in Iran’s military drone program saying that “it has become a thorn in the eyes of the enemies.” He added that Iran’s military power has grown to the extent that adversaries are asking to negotiate over its missiles.

Besides Iran's nuclear program, the West and regional countries are also concerned about Tehran's ballistic missiles and want to limit the program.