Anadolu Ajansı reported that Iranian diplomat Gholamhossein Darzi warned Tehran would retaliate if the United States or Israel renewed attacks, putting U.S. military decisions at the center of the dispute.
Darzi, Iran’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, spoke Friday during a Security Council meeting on the Middle East, the outlet reported. He accused Washington of launching an unlawful war and violating Iran’s sovereignty, and said civilian sites had been hit.
Darzi argued that a Security Council resolution could not remove a U.N. member state’s right to defend itself after an armed attack. In response to U.S. criticism, he said, “The United States is the aggressor, not the victim.”
He rejected suggestions that Tehran had abandoned diplomacy. “Iran has never closed the door to diplomacy,” Darzi told the council.
Darzi warned that renewed U.S. or Israeli military action would bring an “immediate and decisive response.” He said Tehran would direct it at the source of the aggression “wherever it may be.”
