Iran won't target its neighbors, but US bases across region: FM spox
The spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Islamic Republic is not targeting its neighboring countries, but rather US bases across the West Asian region.
Speaking in an interview with Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television news network on Thursday, Esmaeil Baghaei emphasized that Iran has been caught in an unlawful offensive by the United States and the Israeli regime.
The latest measures taken by Iran in the region are merely meant to defend itself, Baghaei said, noting that Iran has no animosity or hostility towards neighboring countries and also has no intention to attack these states.
He underlined that Iranian Armed Forces are precisely targeting the US bases in the region, reiterating that Tehran extends the hand of friendship towards all neighboring countries and Muslim states.
The Iranian diplomat described the ongoing US-Israeli war on the country as a major crime and an open aggression.
Iranian authorities, he said, had earlier warned of a decisive and comprehensive retaliation in case of an act of aggression against the Islamic Republic.
What is happening in the region could be best explained as Iran's self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter and principles of international law, he added.
Baghaei warned that Israeli Mossad agents are evidently trying to carry out acts of sabotage in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the region in a bid to implicate Iran.
He stated that the Tel Aviv regime is seeking to provoke regional states against Iran, and sow seeds of division and discord among them.
Baghaei also dismissed reports on Iran's role in the attack on the Saudi Aramco oil facilities in the energy-rich Ras al-Tanurah region, terming it a false-flag operation.
Commenting on attacks by resistance groups on US assets in the region and Israeli sites in the occupied territories, Baghaei emphasized that these groups are extremely angry about the assassination of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei as he was not only a highly distinguished political figure but also a source of jurisprudence for millions of Muslims worldwide.
It is natural for them to express their profound rage and wrath in different forms, the Iranian diplomat stated.
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