"The Islamic Republic does not seek war but will not show restraint in the face of enemy aggression against its red lines either," Iraj Masjedi, the top advisor to the commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, said on Monday.
Masjedi said Iran received multiple messages from the United States and other countries in the wake of an Israeli attack on Iran's consulate in Syria early this month, urging it not to take retaliatory measures. However, those messages did not deter Iran from "taking revenge on the child-killing regime", he added.
The US and its allies believed that Iran would either choose not to respond to the Israeli aggression or would do so indirectly through resistance forces in the region, he said.
Masjedi said the US invited Iran to exercise "restraint", but at the same time it supported the Israeli regime's actions.
In the early hours of Sunday, the IRGC launched hundreds of missiles and drones towards the Israeli occupied territories in the first ever direct attack against the regime from Iranian territory. Tehran said the strike was meant as a "limited" punishment for the Israeli regime for the April 1 attack on its diplomatic premises.
"The recent strike showed that (Israel's) air defense systems and the Iron Dome are by no means a deterrent against Iranian missiles," Masjedi said.
4353**2050
Your Comment