TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday said that Tehran was determined to defend itself after Israeli warplanes struck military bases and missile sites in various Iranian provinces, killing two soldiers.
“I think we have shown that our determination to defend ourselves knows no limits,” the foreign minister said in an interview with the official website of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The foreign minister’s comments were the first by a senior Iranian official since the pre-dawn Israeli air strikes. “We will defend our territory and our homeland,” Araghchi said. “I think everyone has already seen that.”
Israel warned Tehran would “pay a heavy price” if it retaliated to its strikes, and the United States, Britain, and Germany demanded Iran not to further escalate the conflict.
Israel launched strikes against targets in Iran early Saturday, with the Israel army claiming on social media that it was in “reply to months of continuous strikes” by Tehran.
Arab media cited the Israeli army as claiming, “Right now the Israeli Army is conducting precise attacks on military targets in Iran,”.
In Tehran, the sound of blasts could be heard, with state-run media there earlier admitting at least six explosions were heard around the city and adding some of the sounds came from air defence systems around Tehran.
Israel’s attacks on Iran did not include striking Iranian nuclear facilities, oil fields, and focused on military targets, ABC News and NBC News reported, quoting an Israeli official.
Russia on Saturday warned that an “explosive escalation” in hostilities between Iran and Israel risked spiralling out of control after Israeli airstrikes targeted Iranian military sites.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova expressed deep concern over “the ongoing explosive escalation” in the region and called for immediate restraint from all involved parties.
“We urge all parties involved to exercise restraint, stop the violence, and prevent events from developing into a catastrophic scenario,” Zakharova stated. “It is necessary to avoid provoking Iran into retaliation and to escape this dangerous spiral of escalation.”
Meanwhile, in Washington, White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett stated that the “targeted attacks on military targets” are “an exercise of self-defence and in reply to Iran’s ballistic missile strike against Israel on October 1.”
AFP cited a US defence official as saying that the US was “informed beforehand and there is no role of the US in it.
