Iran sufficed to strike only part of Israel’s military positions: FM to UN chief

Iran’s foreign minister says the country could have conducted its recent retaliatory strikes against the Israeli regime in a wider scope, but sufficed to hit only part of the regime’s military positions.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks to the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday in New York, where the former addressed the UN Security Council earlier.

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“Although, Iran was capable of conducting the operation across a wider radius, only a part of the Zionist regime’s military positions were targeted, from which the attack on our country’s Embassy in Damascus had taken place,” the top diplomat said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) launched the operation late on Saturday in response to a deadly attack by the regime against the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic premises in the Syrian capital on April 1.

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

During the retaliatory strikes, dubbed Operation True Promise, the IRGC targeted the occupied territories with a barrage of drones and missiles. The strikes inflicted damage on Israeli military bases across the occupied territories.

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Amir-Abdollahian said the UN Security Council’s “inefficacy” and its refusal to condemn the Israeli attack left Iran with no option other than to engage in “legitimate defense” and punish the Zionist regime.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the foreign minister pointed to the Israeli regime and its allies, including the United States’ ongoing genocide against the defenseless Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

He was referring to Tel Aviv’s October 7-present war on the coastal sliver that has so far killed upwards of 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

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Amir-Abdollahian appreciated the UN chief’s efforts at cessation of the warfare and transfer of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.

For his part, Guterres noted Iran’s recent retaliation against the Israeli regime, urging self-restraint on the parties to regional conflicts.

He condemned whatever instance of violation against diplomatic missions, saying the facilities had to enjoy immunity, and warning against the consequences of expansion of tensions across the region.

The United Nations calls for de-escalation of tensions in the region and invests all within its power towards establishment of regional peace and security, Guterres said, adding, “Currently, the international community’s focus rests on establishment of immediate ceasefire in Gaza and immediate cessation of the war there.”

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