‘Masterclass in selective outrage’: Iran slams EU over response to retaliation against US attacks

The spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, has condemned the European Union’s reaction to Iran’s legitimate retaliation against recent US military actions, describing it as a “masterclass in selective outrage.”

In a post published on the social media platform X on Monday, Baghaei wrote, “The EU’s statement blaming Iran for exercising its right to self-defense against US aggression launched from bases in neighboring countries is a masterclass in selective moral outrage; it is hypocritical and reckless.”

He called on the bloc to remain faithful to the rule of law and the principles of the UN Charter that it has long claimed to uphold.

Baghaei further urged the EU to avoid what he described as appeasing aggressors while blaming those who respond to unlawful attacks.

“Iran’s strikes against those bases and assets that are used to launch unlawful attacks against Iran are a lawful exercise of self-defense,” he emphasized.

“States have an established legal obligation not to allow their territory or assets to be used for invading other countries,” Baghaei added.

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said late Sunday that it conducted "self-defense strikes" over the weekend against Iranian radar and drone command-and-control facilities in the city of Goruk and on Qeshm Island.

"The measured and deliberate strikes occurred on Saturday and Sunday," CENTCOM said in response to what it called "aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a US MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters."

This came after the Public Relations Department of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced in a statement on Sunday that the elite force’s air defense units had detected and successfully shot down an intruding MQ-1 Predator drone belonging to the “aggressor US military”, shortly after it encroached upon Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf.

IRGC hits US air base behind attack on telecom tower in southern Iran

The IRGC says it carried out a retaliatory strike against an air base used by the US for an attack on a telecom tower in southern Iran.

The EU’s diplomatic service claimed that Iranian attacks violate the sovereignty of Arab countries and “pose a serious threat to regional security and stability.”

Iran has long maintained that the Arab countries of the region have a responsibility to not allow the US to use their soil for illegal aggression against Iran.

Due to their failure, Iran says that based on Article 51 of the UN Charter it has a right to self-defense and US bases in these countries are considered to be legitimate targets for Iranian armed forces.

The US-Israeli aggression against Iran began on February 28 with airstrikes that targeted senior Iranian officials and commanders.

Iranian armed forces responded by launching daily missile and drone operations targeting locations in the Israeli-occupied territories as well as US military bases and assets across the region.

Furthermore, Iran retaliated against the strikes by closing the Strait of Hormuz, which led to a significant increase in oil prices and related products.

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