Iran threatens to 'decisively respond' to any US strikes
JERUSALEM
Iran threatened today to “decisively respond” to any U.S. attack on the Islamic Republic following President Joe Biden's linking of Tehran to the killing of three U.S. soldiers at a military base in Jordan.
The U.S. has signaled it is preparing for retaliatory strikes in the Mideast in the wake of the weekend's drone attack that also injured at least 40 troops at Tower 22, a secretive base in northeastern Jordan that's been crucial to the American presence in neighboring Syria.
However, concerns remain that any additional American strikes could further inflame a region already roiled by Israel's ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the ongoing attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea.
A U.S. Navy destroyer in the waterway shot down an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the Houthis late on Jan. 30, the latest attack targeting American forces patrolling the key maritime trade route, officials said.
The Iranian warnings first came from Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations in New York. He gave a briefing to Iranian journalists late on Jan. 30, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
“The Islamic Republic would decisively respond to any attack on the county, its interests and nationals under any pretexts,” IRNA quoted Iravani as saying. He described any possible Iranian retaliation as a “strong response,” without elaborating.
The Iranian mission to the U.N. did not respond to requests for comment or elaboration today on Iravani's remarks.
Iravani also denied that Iran and the U.S. had exchanged any messages over the last few days, either through intermediaries or directly. The pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera, which is based in and funded by Qatar, reported earlier that such communication had taken place. Qatar often serves as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran.
“Such messages have not been exchanged," Iravani said.
But Iran's government has taken note of the U.S. threats of retaliation for the attack on the base in Jordan.
“Sometime, our enemies raise the threat and nowadays we hear some threats in between words by American officials," Revolutionary Guard commander Gen. Hossein Salami said at an event today.
