Iran warns foreign nations against helping Israel counterattack

Any country that provides an air or land passage for West Jerusalem’s troops will face Tehran’s wrath, the Islamic Republic has said

Any nation that helps Israel mount an attack against Iran would face serious consequences, the Islamic Republic’s defense minister, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, warned early Sunday. His statement came as Tehran launched a massive air strike against the Jewish State in what it called retaliation for Israeli attack on an Iranian consulate in Syria.

“Whatever country that [would] open its soil or airspace to Israel for a [potential] attack on Iran, will [face] our decisive response,” Ashtiani said.

Iran’s mission to the UN also explicitly demanded the US “stay away” from the conflict between Tehran and West Jerusalem. This is a bilateral issue, the mission said in a statement on X (formerly, Twitter) on Monday night. The Islamic Republic had a right to respond under the Article 51 of the UN Charter granting every nation a right to self-defense, the statement said, pointing to Israeli “aggression against our diplomatic premises in Damascus.”

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Earlier, Tehran confirmed launching multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at Israel and announced an imminent missile strike. The Israeli military were tracking more than 100 drones heading towards the nation’s territory, the local media reported, adding that the UAVs are expected to reach Israel “within hours” and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) seek to intercept them mid-air.

The development prompted several Middle Eastern nations, including Jordan and Lebanon, to close their airspace in response. Amman also declared a state of emergency over the situation.

The exact targets of the attack remain unclear. Iran’s Revoultionary Guards Corps (IRGC) called the attack a retaliation against Israel’s “numerous crimes,” including an early April strike targeting an Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus. The attack killed seven officers of the IRGC’s Quds Force, including two generals.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei then vowed a response. The US warned Isarel on Friday that Tehran could launch a massive strike against it over the weekend.