Iran warns of ‘crushing response’ to any attack on its territory, interests

Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations has warned that any act of aggression against Iran and its people will be met with a crushing response.

The mission, in a statement on Tuesday, categorically rejected media claims about the exchange of several messages between the United States and Iran amid a surge in regional tensions.

“Such messages have not been exchanged at all. Nevertheless, it constitutes a principled policy of the Islamic Republic to respond decisively and forcefully to any hostile move against the country, its interests, and its nationals,” it stated.

Some media outlets claimed that Washington has sent messages to Tehran over the past two days, via third parties, that it does not want an open war, and warned that escalation would be met with US retaliatory action.

The reports further claimed that Tehran rejected Washington’s threats and said any attack on its soil would constitute crossing a red line and would be met with an appropriate response.

Neither Washington nor Tehran has confirmed the reports that followed a drone attack on a US base in northeast Jordan near the Syrian border. The United States military said three American forces were killed and at least 25 others wounded in the strike, blaming it on “Iranian-backed groups.”

‘No regional group acting on behalf of Iran’

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations also dismissed the US accusations in a letter to UN Security Council President Nicolas de Rivière on Monday.

Amir Saeid Iravani asserted unequivocally that “there is no group affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Armed Forces, whether in Iraq, Syria, or elsewhere that operates directly or indirectly under the control of the Islamic Republic of Iran or acts on its behalf.”

“Therefore, the Islamic Republic of Iran is not responsible for the actions of any individual or group within the region,” the diplomat added.

Iraqi resistance forces have conducted dozens of strikes on the US-run military installations in both Iraq and Syria in retaliation for Washington’s singled-out support for the Israeli genocidal campaign in Gaza.

n Tuesday, Iraq’s Islamic Resistance announced a pause in its operations against American targets across the region.

The group announced the decision through a statement by Kata’ib Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades), one of its major members.

Israel launched the war on Gaza following a historic operation by the Gaza-based Hamas resistance group against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

More than 110 days into the campaign, the regime has achieved no objectives despite killing at least 26,751 people in Gaza, around 70 percent of them women and children. Another 65,636 individuals have been wounded as well.

The United States has supplied Israel with weapons and intelligence support and blocked UN resolutions calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.