Any Israeli attack on Iran is a “red line” and will be followed by a proportionate response, but Tehran will not rush, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday.
“If Israel attacks us, we are fully prepared to respond. “We will respond accordingly, but we hope that Israel will not test our readiness.” – Arakchi said in an interview with the Turkish television channel NTV.
“Any attack against Iran is a red line for us. We will not leave an attack of this type without reacting. The necessary response will be given to any attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities or similar attack, Israel will receive a symmetrical response to any attack on Iran. “We will not reject a symmetrical response, we will not delay it, but we will not rush it either.” – pointed out the minister.
During the last Iranian operation, 90% of the missiles launched by Iran reached their targets, Araqchi stressed.
“At that time we did not attack any economic or civil objectives; The objectives were exclusively military. We have now identified all the targets in Israel. “In the event of an Israeli attack, we will attack their targets in a similar manner.” – said the minister.
Responding to a question about why Israel has still not attacked Iran after 19 days, Araqchi highlighted the enormous international pressure on Tel Aviv.
“There is a serious possibility of a large-scale war breaking out in the region…Countries in the region are making significant diplomatic efforts at the regional and international levels. “I believe that diplomacy must be used to stop Israeli attacks and declare a ceasefire to avoid a large-scale tragedy in the region; Only then can we talk about the well-being of the residents of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.” – said Arakchi.
The Hamas attack triggered an Israeli army ground operation in the Gaza Strip, which has left the Palestinian enclave almost completely destroyed and killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the local Health Ministry. Having completed the active phase of hostilities in the Gaza Strip, Israel transferred its main forces to the northern front and began a limited ground operation in southern Lebanon, from where rocket attacks were launched towards northern Israel throughout the year. In April, for the first time in history, Iran directly attacked Israel, and in October there was an unprecedented second Iranian attack using hundreds of ballistic missiles. On the agenda is the question of the Israeli response to this attack, on which the future fate of the region largely depends.
