Iran had no choice but to punish Israel: FM

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said the United Nations’ refusal to condemn in the slightest terms the Israeli regime’s April 1 deadly terrorist attack on Iran’s diplomatic premises in Damascus, left the Islamic Republic with no choice other than to punish Tel Aviv.

The top diplomat made the remarks in a Sunday phone call with the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

“In the face of the United Nations and the [UN] Security Council’s diplomatic inaction to issue even one statement in condemnation of the [Israeli terrorist] action, the Islamic Republic had no choice other than to punish the Zionist regime within the framework of legitimate defense,” Amir-Abdollahian said.

The Israeli attack had resulted in the martyrdom of Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), his deputy, General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, and five of their accompanying officers.

Retaliating against the attack, the IRGC targeted the occupied territories late on Saturday with a barrage of drones and missiles. The retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation True Promise, has inflicted damage on Israeli military bases across the occupied territories, but the extent of which is yet to be specified.

IRGC launches ‘extensive’ retaliatory missile, drone strikes on occupied territories

The IRGC launches “extensive” retaliatory missile and drone strikes against the occupied territories in response to the Israeli regime’s terrorist attack.

The foreign minister said the Israeli attack amounted to blatant violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, saying by perpetrating the atrocity the regime crossed the Islamic Republic’s red line.

Warning to Israel

Amir-Abdollahian described the Iranian retaliation as successful, noting that following the reprisal, the Islamic Republic relayed the message that it viewed the matter as concluded.

“However, in case of reciprocal action by the Zionist regime, Iran’s response would be immediate, extensive, and maximal,” he cautioned.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the foreign minister hoped that the EU would come up with an effective initiative towards ending the Israeli regime’s October 7-present genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

Should the bloc develop such an initiative, the Islamic Republic would be prepared to contribute to its success, he added.

More than 33,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have died in the war that the regime began following Operation al-Aqsa Storm by Gaza’s resistance movements.

For his part, the European official said Iran’s retaliation against the Israeli attack was not unforeseeable.

He expressed delight in the fact that the Islamic Republic viewed the matter as concluded, and said the EU viewed the Israeli attack on the Iranian diplomatic premises in the Syrian capital as condemnable.

Borrell also said Brussels was investing efforts towards resolving the crisis in Gaza and putting an end to the suffering of the territory’s people, asking Tehran to contribute to realization of such an outcome.

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