The chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards General Yahya Rahim Safavi requested his troops on Sunday to prepare to revenge on Israel and the United States for Israeli offensives in Lebanon, the local Fars news agency reported.

"Our strong Revolutionary Guards and Basij troops must prepare themselves to retaliate on Zionists and Americans", Safavi said, adding that "the supreme leader (Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei) will announce the time."

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps was set up in the 1979 revolution to defend the Islamic Republic and has become a very powerful institution in the country, which is directly under command of the supreme leader.

The Basij are volunteer Islamic militiamen.

"I want our country to revenge the blood of innocent people in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan" and "we should keep this sacred hatred of the enemies of Islam alive in our hearts until the time of revenge comes," said Safavi.

It's not immediately clear if Safavi's remarks represented an Iranian decision to mobilize troops for war, as Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, chief of staff of the Iranian Armed forces, has said that his country would not enter the current crisis in Lebanon militarily.

The conflict between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah erupted after the Lebanese Shiite group kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in a cross-border attack on July 12.

On Sunday morning, at least 51 Lebanese, including 22 children, were killed in an Israeli air raid on the village of Qana, the deadliest single Israeli attack since the conflict began 19 days ago.

Source: Xinhua