Iran defended its missile attacks early Wednesday targeting bases in Iraq hosting US forces, saying they were in “self-defense”.
“THE SHELLING IS MERELY THE BEGINNING OF A SERIES OF REVENGE ATTACKS”
“Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched,” Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said in a Twitter post. “We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression,” Zarif added.
“In Operation Martyr Soleimani in the early hours of Wednesday, tens of ground-to-ground missiles were fired at the US base and successfully pounded Ain al-Asad Base,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in an official statement.
It said the shelling “is merely the beginning of a series of revenge attacks with no deadline for when it ends,” it said. “We warn all allied countries of the U.S. that if attacks are launched from bases in their countries on Iran, they will be a target of military retaliation,” it added.
A second wave of missile attacks against American forces in Iraq has begun, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency announced.