‘Will be forced to respond’: Iran warns its neighbours against attack

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday (Mar 8) said that his country “will be forced to respond” if a neighbouring nation attacks or attempts to invade Iran. In a statement aired on the state TV, Pezeshkian added that the Iranian regime does not have a dispute with its neighbours, nor does it wish harm to its people, but would respond out of necessity.

If Iran's enemies “try to use any country to attack or invade our land, we will be forced to respond to that attack. Responding does not mean we have disputes with that country or wish to harm its people – we would be responding out of necessity,” said Pezeshkian.

This comes a day after Pezeshkian apologised to Gulf nations, saying that his country will not target its neighbours unless attacked. However, just hours later, Iran’s hardline judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, who is also a member of the interim leadership council, said on Saturday that the Islamic Republic would continue targeting its regional neighbours, offering its enemies “points... used in aggression against our country”.

“Evidence from Iran’s armed forces shows that the geography of some countries in the region is openly and covertly at the disposal of the enemy,” said the judiciary chief.

“The heavy attacks on these targets will continue,” he added.

Pezeshkian also said that his country will not surrender to the United States and Israel after the US President’s latest warning that there will be “no deal” with Tehran unless it agrees to an “unconditional surrender”. Iran’s enemies “must take their wish for the unconditional surrender of the Iranian people to their graves,” he said.

On February 28, the US and Israeli military launched strikes on Iran, killing Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and several other top Iranian officials. The operation was named ‘Epic Fury’ by the US and ‘Lion’s Roar’ by Israel. The attacks came amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran and ongoing talks over Iran’s nuclear program. In retaliation, Iran launched attacks on Israel and US military bases in the region, including in Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

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