Iran said it had used the Swiss embassy in Tehran to warn the US not to get involved in the Middle East conflict, after the country launched a series of missiles to attack Israel.
A few hours before Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles at targets in Israel, the US informed Israel of the attack. However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said today that Tehran did not contact or exchange any messages with the US before the attack.
Only after the attack ended did Iran contact the US through the Swiss embassy in Tehran to send a warning message about what might happen next.
“The main point of the message we convey to the Americans is that Iran is taking defensive action within the framework of the United Nations Charter,” Mr. Araghchi said. “Iran has warned the US side not to get involved in this issue, otherwise they will face a decisive response from us.”
Iran’s foreign minister added that Tehran informed Washington that “the offensive campaign has ended and we have no intention of continuing”. However, he emphasized that Iran will continue to act if Israel decides to retaliate.
The US has not yet commented on information from Iran. The Pentagon confirmed that US forces assisted Israel in intercepting Iranian missiles in the raid on the night of October 1.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at the United Nations headquarters in New York, USA on September 25. Image: Reuters
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on the night of October 1 to conduct operation “True Promise 2”, in response to Israel’s killing of Hezbollah supreme leader Hassan Nasrallah and IRGC deputy commander Abbas Nilforoushan last week. before. This is also Tehran’s response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.
IRGC launched a series of ballistic and hypersonic missiles at three Israeli military bases near Tel Aviv city, including Nevatim, Tel Nof and Hatzerim airports, claiming 90% of the bullets “hit the target”.
According to the Israeli military, Iran launched about 180 ballistic missiles, but most were intercepted by their air defense system and US and Jordanian allies. Two people in Tel Aviv were injured and a Palestinian civilian in Jericho was killed by rocket fragments.
According to Foreign Minister Araghchi, Iran has been restrained for more than two months since the death of Hamas leader Haniyeh in Tehran.
“We only target Israel’s military and security bases. Iran does not want escalation, but is not afraid of war either. We warn third parties not to intervene in the conflict,” he stated, At the same time, he called for joint efforts to establish a ceasefire in Gaza, prevent Israel’s attack as well as escalating tensions in the region, especially in Gaza and Lebanon.
Bullets launched by Iran flew over Israel on October 1. Image: AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Iran had “made a big mistake” and that Tel Aviv would respond, raising concerns about the risk of the Israel-Iran conflict breaking out into a full-scale war in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian affirmed that the country “does not seek war”, but will resolutely defend itself against all threats, adding that the missile attack on Israel “is just the tip of the iceberg”. “.