FM: Iran seeking legal action over Israeli use of regional airspace in Oct. 26 attacks
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Israel had used Iraq’s airspace and a US-controlled channel over the Arab country in its latest act of aggression against Iran, adding that the Islamic Republic has lodged a complaint with the United Nations over the issue.
Araghchi made the remarks on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday as he discussed Israel’s unauthorized use of Iraqi airspace for conducting the October 26 attack on Iran that led to the martyrdom of four Iranian servicemen and one civilian.
“The presence of the US military in the region is a reality and the Zionist fighter jets carried out the recent attack against Iran through the airspace opened up by the United States in the region,” Araghchi said.
He said that in addition to US-controlled airspace over Iraq, the Israeli regime also used the airspace of other countries in the region for its aggression against the country.
Araghchi said that during his recent trip to the neighboring country before the Israeli attack, Iraq’s high-ranking officials had asserted that they would not allow the use of their airspace and soil.
The foreign minister also noted that Iran is following up on the complaint lodged by Iraq with the United Nations over Israel’s unauthorized move, adding that the country is also in contact with the Iraqi government and other regional countries whose airspace has been used to carry out the attack to file a complaint.
Another senior Iranian commander also said the Israeli regime and its allies’ aircraft hovered across the Iraqi airspace for 25 consecutive days in preparation for possible attack against Iran.
In early October, Iran’s Operation True Promise II saw the Islamic Republic launch 200 missiles towards Israeli military and intelligence bases all over the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories in retaliation for the regime’s acts of deadly aggression against the country and other regional nations.
Following the Iranian operation, the Iraqi airspace was “at the disposal” of the Israeli regime and its supporters, including the United States, Britain, France, and some littoral Persian Gulf Arab states, during the 25-day period as “they sought to take an offensive measure against us,” said Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, deputy chief of the Iranian Army for Coordination.