TEHRAN (AFP): Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday that Tehran has warned the United States against intervening following Iran’s attack on Israel.
“We have… warned the US forces to withdraw from this matter and not to intervene,” Araghchi told state television, adding that the message was relayed through the Swiss embassy in Tehran.
Abbas Araghchi said that there was “no exchange” of messages with the United States before Iran’s missile attack on Israel.
Iran on Tuesday launched a barrage of missiles at Israel in response to the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah alongside Revolutionary Guards commander Abbas Nilforoushan in a strike on the Lebanese capital last week.
Iran’s missile attack also came in retaliation for the killing of Palestinian Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a July strike in Tehran widely blamed on Israel.
“Before the attack, there was no exchange of messages,” Araghchi told state TV, adding that Iran communicated with the US after the attack through the Swiss embassy in Tehran.
“The main point of the message we conveyed to the Americans was that we were taking defensive action within the framework of the United Nations Charter,” he said.
“We have also warned the US forces to withdraw from this matter and not to intervene, otherwise they will face a harsh response from us.”
He added that Iran informed the US that the “operation is over and we do not intend to continue”.
The Revolutionary Guards said the missile attacks targeted “three military bases” around Tel Aviv as well as air and radar bases, adding that “90 percent” of the missiles “hit their targets”.
The missile attack was Iran’s second direct attack on Israel, after a missile and drone attack in April in retaliation for a deadly Israeli air strike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus.
Araghchi said Iran’s “action is concluded unless the Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation”.
Iran warned of a “crushing” response if Israel retaliated.
Khamenei threatens ‘more painful’ attack on Israel
After firing 180 ballistic missiles at Israel, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei tweets an illustration of a large underground weapons cache, warning that victory for Tehran is near. “Victory comes from Allah and it is close,” he writes.
In broken Hebrew, Khamenei tweets a message threatening that the “blows of the uprising front will become stronger and more painful on the worn and rotting body of the Zionist regime.”
Danish police probe two blasts near Israeli embassy
Danish police said on Wednesday they were investigating two blasts that went off near the Israeli embassy in the capital Copenhagen.
No-one was hurt in the explosions, which occurred overnight in the “immediate proximity” to the Israeli embassy, police spokesman Jakob Hansen told reporters.
“Nobody was wounded and we are carrying out a preliminary investigation at the scene,” police wrote on social media platform X earlier.
“It’s too early to say if there is a link” between the blasts and the Israeli embassy, Hansen said.
Writing on X, Israel’s ambassador to Denmark David Akov said he was “shocked by the appalling incident near the embassy a few hours ago.”
“We have full confidence in the Danish authorities and the police in their investigation.”
The Israeli embassy is among several foreign missions, including Iran, Thailand, Turkey and Romania, that are clustered in the upscale suburb of Hellerup north of the Danish capital.
The blasts came as tensions in the Middle East are spiralling, with Iran firing a barrage of missiles at Israeli territory and Israel vowing to make Iran “pay” for the attack.
