After the White House declined to disclose if strikes on Tehran were ruled out amid escalating tensions, Iran declared on Monday that it "will not hesitate" to respond if the United States launched an attack on its soil.
“The Islamic Republic has shown that it has always reacted decisively to any threat to its security, territorial integrity and sovereignty," said Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanani during his weekly press briefing, AFP reported.
Iran "will not hesitate to use its capabilities" to react to any attacks on its territory, he asserted, adding that that Tehran "does not seek to aggravate tensions and crises in the region".
Earlier on Sunday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the foreign minister of Iran, denounced the recent acts of aggression against West Asian states and cautioned the United States and the UK against testing the wrath of these countries.
Amir-Abdollahian said in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) that Iran condemns the most recent round of airstrikes on Yemen carried out by the US and Britain, as well as the fatal raids carried out by US occupying forces on several locations in Iraq and Syria.
“We strongly condemn the US and British military attacks on Yemen and the US aggression on Iraq and Syria.. [You] do not [want to] test the wrath of the region. We consider the security of Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank) to be the security of the region,” the Iranian FM said.
{{/usCountry}}“We strongly condemn the US and British military attacks on Yemen and the US aggression on Iraq and Syria.. [You] do not [want to] test the wrath of the region. We consider the security of Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank) to be the security of the region,” the Iranian FM said.
{{/usCountry}}The US accuses Iran of escalating the conflict in Gaza by releasing its proxies -- the Houthis, Hezbollah, and the Iraqi Resistance --throughout the region.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivanon Sunday said the US would continue its retaliation against organisations in Syria and Iraq that receive support from Iran.
In response to a question about whether the US would rule out going after Iran directly, Sullivan told NBC that "it would not be wise for me to talk about what we're ruling in and ruling out."
Regional tensions have surged since start of Israel-Hamas war on October 7, prompting Iran-backed groups in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon to stand in solidarity with Palestinians.
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US launched strikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran-linked targets
In the first act of retaliation for the drone strike that killed three American servicemen in Jordan on January 28, the US military launched an airstrike on dozens of targets in Iraq and Syria that were utilised by Iranian-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on Friday.
More than 85 targets were hit by the massive onslaught of strikes at seven different locations. These targets included intelligence and command centers, missile and rocket launchers, and drone and ammunition storage sites associated with the militias or the IRGC's Quds Force, the Guard's expeditionary division that manages Tehran's relations with and arming of regional militias.
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‘If you harm an American, we will respond’, says Biden
After the US strike, President Joe Biden said a statement that the air strikes would continue “at times and places of our choosing.”
“The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world,” Biden said. “But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond.”
In response, Iraq said that the US initiated the assaults "against the sovereignty" of the nation and has accused the United States of "disavowing legal responsibility" and "misleading international public opinion".