From the Liveblog of
Saturday, February 3, 2024
Iran condemns US strikes on Tehran-linked targets as ‘violations of Iraqi, Syrian sovereignty’
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Iran’s foreign ministry condemns overnight US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria on Tehran-linked targets as “violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of the two countries.
In Tehran’s first response to the US strikes, ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani says in a statement that they represent “another adventurous and strategic mistake by the United States that will result only in increased tension in instability in the region.”
The US military launched air strikes against more than 85 targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and the militias it backs, in retaliation for last weekend’s drone attack in Jordan that killed three US troops.
While the strikes did not target sites inside Iran, they signaled a further escalation of conflict in the Middle East from Israel’s nearly four-month war on Hamas.
Kanaani says the US attacks were designed “to overshadow the Zionist regime’s crimes in Gaza.” He did not indicate if Iran would take any action in response.
He urges the UN Security Council to prevent “illegal and unilateral US attacks in the region.”
Kanaani says “the root cause of tensions and crises in the Middle East is Israel’s occupation and genocide of Palestinians with America’s unlimited support.”
The Times of Israel Community.