Iran says will respond ‘strongly’ to US if it joins Israeli strikes

Iran conveyed to Washington that it will respond “strongly” to the United States if it becomes directly involved in Israel’s military campaign, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva says.

Ali Bahreini tells reporters that he sees the US as “complicit in what Israel is doing.”

“We will give the same response to the United Staes that we give to Israel,” he says. “I am confident that [Iran’s military] will react strongly, proportionally and appropriately. We are closely following the level of involvement in the US… We will react whenever it is needed,” he said.

The US has so far only taken indirect actions in the current conflict between Israel and Iran, including helping to shoot down missiles fired toward Israel.

It is deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East and extending the deployment of other warplanes, three US officials tell Reuters, as US President Donald Trump is said to be weighing taking a direct role in Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear and military facilities.

Trump called on Tuesday for Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”

Bahreini calls the US president’s remarks “completely unwarranted and very hostile. We cannot ignore them. We are vigilant about what Trump is saying. We will put it in our calculations and assessments.”

Bahreini says Iran will also respond strongly to Israeli strikes.

“We will not show any reluctance in defending our people, security and land – we will respond seriously and strongly, without restraint,” Bahreini says.