Iran says its ‘action is over’ unless Israel ‘invites further retaliation’

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said on Tuesday night that his attack “is over” unless Israel “invites further retaliation,” after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran that it had made “a grave mistake” in launching its missile attack on Israeli territory, while assuring that it would “pay” the consequences of an offensive that has been largely repelled.

“Tonight we exercised legitimate self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter, attacking only those responsible for genocide in Gaza and Lebanon. We did so after exercising enormous restraint for almost two months to make room for a ceasefire in Gaza. Our action is over unless the Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation,” he said.

Iran’s top diplomat has warned that “in that case” its “response will be more forceful and powerful”: “Supporters of Israel now have a great responsibility to stop the Tel Aviv warmongers instead of participating in their madness,” he said on his profile on the social network X.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has claimed on Tuesday to have attacked Israeli military bases in the vicinity of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv as part of the massive missile launch carried out in revenge for the death of Ismail Haniyeh and Hassan Nasrallah, the leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Lebanese Shiite party-militia Hezbollah, both groups supported by Tehran.