Iran's foreign minister on Friday refused to acknowledge that Israel was behind the latest attack on Iran after it was attacked by Israel, describing the weapons used in the attack as more like children's toys.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said in an interview with NBC News reporter Tom Llamas, according to British media on April 20: "What happened last night was not an attack. Those are more like toys for our kids to play with than drones. ”
Meanwhile, in an interview with NBC News in New York, Amirabdullahian said that Iran does not intend to respond unless Israel launches a major attack. "As long as Israel does not engage in new adventures for our interests, we will not have any new response," he said. ”
But the foreign minister warned that if Israel attacked Iran, the response would be swift and harsh.
"If Israel takes decisive action and carries out an attack on our country, and this is proven to us, we will immediately respond to the maximum extent possible and make them regret it," he said. ”
It is reported that the latest violent clashes between Israel and Iran began on April 1, when Israel bombed the Iranian consulate building in Damascus, the Syrian capital, resulting in the deaths of two generals and five Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officers.
Twelve days later, Iran responded by launching an unprecedented, direct military attack against Israel, involving more than 300 missiles and drones. However, the attack did not cause significant damage. Almost all missiles and drones were intercepted by the armies of Israel, the United States, and other allies.
Amirabdullahian said the attack was intended to "send a warning". "We could have bombed Haifa and Tel Aviv," he said. We can also target all economic ports in Israel. ”
"But our bottom line is civilians," he added. We have only military purposes. ”
While the secret war between Iran and Israel has been going on for decades, with Iran arming and training hostile Israeli proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, Iran's airstrikes mark Tehran's first public military attack on Israel.
In the days that followed, the United States urged Israel to exercise restraint and refrain from retaliatory attacks that could trigger a full-scale war between two longtime adversaries.
However, Israel retaliated on Thursday night by bombing a military airfield near the central Iranian city of Isfahan. According to Iranian state media, nuclear facilities in the area were not damaged, and no casualties were reported.