Tel Aviv: In retaliatory attack, Israeli launched missile attacks on Iran, ABC News reported, citing a US official, days after Iran launched a drone strike on Israel in response to an attack at the Iranian embassy in Syria.
Iran’s Fars news agency said an explosion were heard at an airport in the Iranian city of Isafahan but the cause was not immediately known. Several Iranian nuclear sites are located in Isfahan province, including Natanz, centerpiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Several flights were diverted over Iranian airspace and the commercial flights started rerouting their paths over western Iran early on Friday without clarification, according to the Associated Press.
The development comes soon after Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, warned Israel against taking any military actions targeting Iranian interests. He stated Iran has concluded its “defense and counteroffensive measures” and urged the international community to stop Israel from carrying out any military operations against Iran.
During discussions on the Middle East situation at the UNSC, Amir-Abdollahian said, “Iran’s legitimate defense and countermeasures have been concluded. Therefore, the Israeli regime must be compelled to stop any further military adventurism against our centres, assets and interests. Certainly, in case of any illegal use of force by the Israeli regime and violating our sovereignty, the Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate a bit to assert its inherent right to give a decisive and proper response to it to make the regime regret its actions.”
He accused Israel of carrying out a missile attack on Iranian diplomatic premises in Damascus on April 1. He said that Israel’s action was a “clear violation of the Charter of the United Nations international law and the Vienna Convention.”
He said, “The missile attack on the 1st of April on the Iranian diplomatic premises in Damascus showed yet again that this regime does not hesitate to violate the fundamental principle of the immunity of such places and people as well as the known and well recognised Vienna Conventions. As the majority of the members of the Security Council declared at the April 2 meeting here, the attack was a clear violation of the Charter of the United Nations international law and the Vienna Convention, and thus is strongly condemned.”
He criticised the US, UK, and France for not issuing a statement over the attack on the Iranian diplomatic premises in Damascus. He even expressed regret that the UNSC did not take action on Iran’s repeated requests to prevent further attacks by Israel on Iran’s interests. He accused the White House of giving a green signal to Israel’s action.
He said, “Regrettably, the Security Council, had not taken any action during the past months to our official and repeated requests to prevent further attacks by the Israeli regime on Iran’s interests, centres and official military advisors who were there to fight terrorism and due to the unfortunate and completely irresponsible behaviour of the United States, the UK and France, in response to this illegal attack, failed even to issue a mere statement containing a simple condemnation.”
“No will remain silent in the face of such a brazen and serious military attack on its Embassy, which is considered a symbol of its sovereignty, as well as the killing of its legal, official and diplomatic agents. The Islamic Republic of Iran, which until recently had shown considerable restraint against other terrorist missile attacks bearing in mind the dire situation in the region and willing to give the role of the United Nations a chance to prevent the escalation of the conflict, was faced with the continuation of the White House’s green light granted to the Israeli regime as well as the continued inaction of the Security Council in preventing the attacks by the Israeli regime,” he added.
Justifying Iran’s attack on Israel, he said, “Iran’s military attack on April 13th, was first and foremost, necessary because Iran had no other option. Secondly, it was carried out in response to a series of attacks and recurring aggressions by the Israeli regime on Iran’s interests, especially on our Embassy in Syria.”
