TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that Tehran would respond to any attack or threat after US forces launched strikes against targets in Iran following the downing of an American military helicopter.
“Despite its defeats on the battlefield, the US opted to test our determination. Our powerful armed forces will leave no attack or threat unanswered. Leave our region if you want to be safe,” Araghchi said in a post on X.
His remarks came after President Donald Trump said the United States had carried out retaliatory strikes in response to the downing of a US Army Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump told ABC News that Washington was responding “in a strong manner” and described the military action as a powerful response to Iranian aggression.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said American forces began conducting “self-defence strikes” at 5 pm ET (2100 GMT) on Tuesday at the president’s direction, calling the operation a “proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression.”
Meanwhile, the Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported that the strikes along Iran’s southern coast, near the Strait of Hormuz, had ceased and that the situation had returned to calm.
