TEHRAN, Iran: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday Tehran had evidence to show US forces supported the intense bombardment campaign Israel launched against the Islamic Republic this week.
“We have solid proof of the support of the American forces and American bases in the region for the attacks of the Zionist regime military forces,” Araghchi told reporters during a news conference in the capital, Tehran, on Sunday.
He said, more importantly, US President Donald Trump has publicly and explicitly confirmed he knew about the attacks, that they could not have happened without US weapons and equipment, and that more attacks are coming.
“Therefore, the US, in our opinion, is a partner in these attacks and must accept its responsibility.”
President Donald Trump on Saturday said the US had “nothing to do” with Israel’s overnight strikes, but warned Iran that he would deploy the “full force” of the military should Iran attack US assets in the region.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio late Thursday said that the United States has made it clear that it is not involved in Israel’s latest strikes on Iran and has warned Tehran against targeting American forces in response.
“We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Rubio said. He added, “Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel.”
Araghchi said Tehran had received messages from Washington through various intermediaries that it was not involved with Israel’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities in Isfahan’s Natanz, but it “does not believe this claim” due to evidence to the contrary.
“It is necessary for the US government to clearly state its position and explicitly condemn the attack on nuclear facilities,” he said.
“This act is condemned under international law, and our expectation is that the US government, in order to prove its good faith regarding nuclear weapons, will condemn the attack on a peaceful nuclear facility and distance itself from this conflict.”
Pointing out that the Israeli attacks came as Iran and the US were slated to hold a sixth round of nuclear negotiations mediated by Oman on Sunday, Araghchi emphasised that Israel “will do anything” to stop the talks and diplomacy, as it has done in the past.
Major strategic mistake
Iranian authorities said the Israeli attacks have killed at least 80 people since Friday.
Multiple top-ranking commanders of the Iranian armed forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were also assassinated, as were a number of nuclear scientists and university professors.
Iran has so far launched two nights of retaliatory attacks on Israel’s Tel Aviv and Haifa, using hundreds of missiles and drones, which have led to at least 10 deaths and dozens of injuries.
Araghchi told reporters that Iran’s attacks overnight into Sunday started targeting Israel’s energy infrastructure after the Israeli army hit refineries, power stations and oil reserves across Iran.
As sounds of explosions and air defences rang across Tehran in the early hours of Sunday, Israel hit a fuel reserve in western Tehran’s Shahran neighbourhood that caused a massive fire.
Authorities said the fire was contained after several hours and that most of the fuel in the reserve was taken out before the air raids.
On Saturday, the Israeli military hit Asaluyeh on Iran’s southern shores in the province of Bushehr, hitting Phase 14 of South Pars, the largest gasfield in the world.
Araghchi said the attack was a “major strategic mistake” that was likely carried out deliberately with the intention of dragging other nations into the war.
Iran and Israel have said their attacks will continue for now, and the Israeli military on Sunday issued a threat to Iranians to stay away from what it called “military weapons production factories and their support institutions”, or risk being killed.
But Araghchi said Tehran is willing to stop if Israel halts its attacks, and urged the international community to intervene and condemn Israel. – Agencies
