Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, reiterated that Tehran will not hesitate to defend its legitimate interests against any renewed aggression while noting that Iran does not intend to extend its defensive operation. 

In a speech before ambassadors and diplomatic envoys in Tehran, the top diplomat explained that "Israel" misunderstood Iran's self-control and launched terroristic operations using US-made missiles against the Iranian consulate. 

He also denounced the international community's failure to condemn the Zionist aggression against the consulate in Syria, clarifying that "Israel's" Western allies prevented this goal. 

Discussing the Iranian defensive retaliatory operation, Amir-Abdollahian said the Iranian armed forces "carried out a cohesive operation against military targets deep within the Israeli Zionist entity". He added that the foreign ministry sent the White House a letter, during the early hours of Sunday, clarifying that the Iranian operation was limited and aimed to "punish the occupation."

He affirmed that Iran's response was within a legitimate, natural, and decisive framework, and considered the security of the region. 

Regarding the fearful narrative Western countries have circulated, Amir-Abdollahian noted to countries that share relations with the Israeli occupation that "Iran does not plan to target US military bases or expand the sphere of aggression."

48 hours before Iran responded to the Israeli aggression, it had notified its neighboring countries in the region about the possibility of striking US military bases on their soil if they opted to attack Iran, the minister said. 

Iran's True Promise

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force announced that it targeted Israeli positions in occupied Palestine with dozens of drones and missiles, as part of the retaliatory response to the malicious Israeli crime against the Iranian embassy in Syria. 
 
The IRGC's Aerospace Force announced that the operation dubbed "True Promise" was launched in the context of "punishing the criminal Zionist regime."

The force said that the operation came "in response to the numerous evil crimes of the Zionist regime," including the attack on the embassy. It said that its forces supported by other units of the Iranian Armed Forces launched the "wide-ranging" military operation. 

The statement added that the operation was conducted with the approval of the Supreme National Security Council and under the supervision of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, with the support of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the backing of the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces.

"Details of this operation will soon draw the attention of the heroic Iranian people and the free peoples of the world," the statement concluded.

As the #US says it will not support an Israeli response to the unprecedented retaliatory #Iranian attack on "Israel", what could happen next?#Iran pic.twitter.com/cQ8sJHAIpv

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) April 14, 2024