Iran says no limits in defending ‘national interests’

TEHRAN. –  Iranian Defence Minister Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani said Wednesday that the country’s armed forces will not set limits when defending the nation’s interests and people, after launching missile strikes on targets in Syria and Iraq.

“We see no limit when it comes to defending our national interests and people,” and Iran’s reaction to threats will be “proportionate, decisive and harsh,” the official IRNA news agency cited him as saying.

He made the remarks on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting, where he commented on Iran’s recent attacks on bases of “terrorists” in Syria and “Israel’s spy agency Mossad” in Iraq’s Kurdish region.

Ashtiani said Iran respects the sovereignty, interests, rights, laws, and territorial integrity of all countries, especially its neighbors, but will not tolerate any malicious actions at its borders.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said early on Tuesday that it had fired 24 ballistic missiles at the bases of “terrorists” in Syria and “Mossad headquarters” in Iraq’s Kurdish region, in retaliation for “terrorist attacks” in southeastern Iran and Israel’s recent killings of Iranian and allied commanders.

It said four missiles hit an Islamic State base in Syria’s Idlib province, 11 hit a Mossad base in Iraq’s Erbil city and nine hit other “terrorist groups’ bases” in Syrian areas under Israeli occupation.

Iraqi Kurdish authorities said four people were killed and six others wounded by the missile strikes in Erbil, while Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency claimed that “four senior Mossad officials and several senior IS commanders” were killed in the attacks.

In addition, Pakistan accused on Wednesday Iran of violating Pakistan’s airspace, killing two children, after Iran’s media reported Iran struck on Tuesday “terrorist bases” in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

Both Iraq and Pakistan have condemned Iran’s attacks on their territories and recalled their ambassadors to Iran

However Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, speaking in Davos, insisted that no Pakistani citizens had been targeted, only members of Jaish al-Adl.

“We only targeted Iranian terrorists on the soil of Pakistan,” Amir-Abdollahian said. – Xinhua