WASHINGTON: Jordanian, Iraqi and Turkish officials have said that Tehran gave wide notice days before its missile and drone attack on Israel, but US authorities said Iran did not warn the US and that it was aiming to cause significant harm.
One top official in Biden’s administration denied Iran’s Foreign Minister statement, saying the US did have contact with Tehran via Swiss intermediaries but did not get notification of around 72 hours in advance.
The officials claimed that it is categorically not true and Iran did not give a notice, nor did they give any sense of … ‘these will be the potential targets, so vacate them. However, the officials said that Iran sent the US a message only following the attacks began and the intent was to be “highly damaging”. It added that Tehran’s claim of a widespread warning may be an act to compensate for the lack of any major damage from the strike.
Earlier, Jordanian, Iraqi and Turkish officials each said Tehran had provided early warning of the strike last week, including some details and information.
The strike with drones, missiles and ballistic missiles risked causing major casualties and further escalating the conflict. Earlier, US authorities said on Friday and Saturday they expected an attack from Iran.
Iranian Minister for Foreign Affairs Hossein Amirabdollahian stated on Sunday that Iran gave neighboring nations and Israel’s ally the US 72 hours’ notification it would launch the attacks.
In a statement, Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry stated it had spoken to both Tehran and Washington before the strike, saying it had conveyed messages as an intermediary to be sure reactions were proportional.
Iran launched dozens of missiles and drones on Saturday in a retaliatory attack after reportedly an Israeli strike on its embassy building in Syria.
