May 17: Iran vows legal action over US-Israeli aggression, says US walking into 'strategic trap'

By Press TV Website Staff

Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, on Sunday sent greetings to the family of martyred top military commander, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, even as Iranian officials outlined a coordinated political and legal response to the US-Israeli war of aggression.

President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, in separate messages, said the joint and unprovoked aggression had exposed Washington’s role as a generator of instability in the West Asia region.

At the same time, senior advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Dr. Ali Akbar Velayati, warned that the US is walking into a “strategic trap” of its own making.

Meanwhile, Tehran condemned new attempts to fabricate a justification for the war and announced legal action over attacks on historic sites.

Israel continued to breach the ceasefire in Lebanon with devastating attacks on South Lebanon amid mounting international scrutiny.

Key developments on day 79 of the war, the thirty-ninth day of the ceasefire:

• Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei sent greetings to the family of former Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces Major General Seyed Abdolrahim Mousavi, who was assassinated in a US-Israeli strike on February 28.
• President Masoud Pezeshkian said the United States and the Israeli regime are attempting to pursue divisive projects to pit Muslim countries against one another.
• Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the joint US-Israeli aggression against Iran has exposed the reality that the American military presence in West Asia brings “nothing but insecurity” to the region.
• Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, warned that Washington is falling into a “strategic trap” dug out by Israel and would lose what remains of its credibility in West Asia if it wages another war of aggression on Iran.
• Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the US and the Israeli regime are fabricating a new “grand lie” to justify their illegal “war of choice” against the Islamic Republic, specifically as they claim their actions aim to restore stability in global energy markets.
• Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the country will launch legal action against the US and the Israeli regime for their attacks on dozens of historic sites and cultural monuments during the recent joint aggression against the Islamic Republic.
• According to a classified Pentagon document, systematic war crimes against Iran were enabled by the deliberate dismantling of civilian protection mechanisms under War Secretary Pete Hegseth, The Intercept reported.
• The Israeli armed forces have already spent their 2026 budget in the wake of the costly US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran, Hebrew news outlet Israel Hayom reported.
• Tight US school budgets are draining as diesel prices keep soaring in the aftermath of the unprovoked US-Israeli war on Iran, which is driving up the costs and making it more expensive to bus students and run generators.
• The New York Times reported that Israeli occupation forces likely killed an Iraqi farmer after stumbling on a secret Israeli military base in the Arab country.
• Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the leader of Yemen's Ansarullah resistance movement, offered condolences on the martyrdom of the commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, reaffirming Yemen’s unwavering support for the Palestinian people as well as Iran and Lebanon.
• A direct order was issued by Iraq’s prime minister to the country's customs authorities, requiring the transit and transhipment of Iranian goods through Iraqi territory into Iran. The order comes more than one month into the US naval blockade of the Persian Gulf.
• The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued five “secret” arrest warrants for Israeli regime officials, including three politicians and two military personnel, as per reports in the Israeli media.
• Bahraini scholars called on Islamic authorities and organisations worldwide to intervene amid the ruling regime’s crackdown on the country’s Shia community.
• Bahrainis held nationwide protests to express anger over the Al Khalifah regime’s intensified crackdown on Shia citizens. The demonstrations took place in Sitra, Bilad al-Qadeem, Maqabah, Sanabis, Abu Saiba, and Bani Jamra on Saturday night.
• Israel’s military attacked eastern and southern Lebanon despite a fragile ceasefire agreement, killing and injuring civilians across the country, as Hezbollah warned that negotiations between Lebanese authorities and Israel have reached a “dead end.”
• Israeli regime minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, revealed schemes for the expansion of illegal settlements into the southern part of Lebanon, while renewing demands for the expulsion of native Palestinians from the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir