Raisi: Iran will ‘respond firmly’ to any attack
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi issued a stern warning Friday against any possible attack by the United States in retaliation for a strike that killed three American troops in Jordan.
“We have said many times that we will not be the initiator of any war, but if a country, a cruel force wants to bully, the Islamic Republic of Iran will respond firmly,” Raisi said during a trip to the southern province of Hormuzgan.
Iran’s “military power in the region was not and is not a threat to any country,” but a source of security that countries in the region can rely on and trust, he said.
“Today, the enemy has no ability to do anything against us; because they know that our forces are powerful and capable.”
“In the past, whenever they wanted to talk to Iran, they used the language of threat such as the military option is on the table but now, we don’t hear those words rather they say even that they are not seeking war”, he said in an indirect reference to past US policies as well as the recent remarks by some American officials following the deadly strike in Jordan.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Chief Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General Hossein Salami had also warned of a crushing response to any act of aggression.
The death of the American soldiers in a drone strike at a base in Jordan on Sunday marked the first US military losses to hostile fire in the region since the Israel’s brutal war on the Gaza Strip began on October 7. The United States has blamed groups which it claims are supported by Iran for the attack.
US President Joe Biden has said he has already decided on the nature of the US response to the deadly bombing, but has not detailed the plans in public, or the timing, while insisting that he is not seeking a wider war in the Middle East.
The White House warned that “multiple actions” could be taken in retaliation for the attack.
Iran has denied any links to the attack and said it is not seeking an “expansion” of conflict in the Middle East.
Regional tensions have intensified since the Israel’s war o Gaza, drawing in resistance groups in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen.
The resistance groups have been attacking the US and Israel’s targets in the region in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli regime has so far claimed the lives of more than 27,000 Palestinians, most of the women and children, the besieged Palestinian territory. The Islamic republic has repeatedly said it sees a duty to support the resistance groups in the region, but insists they are independent in decision and action.