'Toys our children play with': Iranian Foreign Minister mocks Israel's airstrike

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has mocked the Israeli airstrike in Iran and said the country’s weapons are “more like toys that our children play with”.

Further dismissing the Israeli airstrike, Amirabdollahian said it was not an attack at all. He arrived in the United States on Friday to attend a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) session.

“What happened last night was not a strike. They were more like toys that our children play with – not drones,” said Amirabdollahian in an interview with NBC News.

Days after Iran mounted an unprecedented attack on Israel with more than 600 missiles, drones, and rockets last week, Israel on Friday attacked an Iranian military base near the Natanz nuclear facility in the Isfahan province. For days, an Israeli response to the Iranian barrage was understood to be just a matter of time. The Friday’s attack, was, however, quite limited in scope and the subsequent Iranian dismissal suggests the two countries have decided to avoid any immediate escalation.

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‘We will not react unless there is no new Israeli adventurism’

Indicating that the two sparring sides had for now stepped off the escalatory ladder, Amirabdollahian said Iran will not react unless there is new “adventurism” from Israel.

Amirabdollahian, however, added that there will be “decisive” response in case there is indeed any Israeli activity.

“As long as there is no new adventurism by Israel against our interests, then we are not going to have any new reactions. If Israel takes a decisive action against my country and this is proven to us. Our response will be immediate and to the maximum and will cause them to regret it,” said Amirabdollahian.

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Amirabdollahian further went on to downplay the Iranian attack on Israel and said it was a mere warning. He further said that the civilians were never a target.

“We could have hit Haifa and Tel Aviv. We could have also targeted all the economic ports of Israel. But our red lines was civilians. We only had a military purpose,” said Amirabdollahian.

Following the killing of a top Iranian general in an airstrike in Syrian capital Damascus on a building Iran claimed to be part of its diplomatic mission, the Iranian leaders repeatedly vowed to punish Israel. For days prior to Iran’s aerial attack on Israel, the US and Israeli governments had publicised their assessment that the Iranian attack was imminent.

Israel sent out signal with its limited strikes: Experts

Even though the Israeli response to Iran’s unprecedented barrage last week was limited in its scope, it sent out a key message to Tehran, said experts.

They have said that Israel with its strikes demonstrated that it can bypass multi-layered Iranian air defences and can target Iranian nuclear sites. As per reports, the military base that Israel struck was very close to the Natanz nuclear facility.

“Israel has demonstrated the political will and military capability to strike inside Iran – something Israel had to do. Israel picked a very meaningful target, demonstrating an ability to hit some of the eyes and ears protecting Iran’s nuclear program with the clear message from Israel to Iran that there is much more where those three missiles came from,” said Brad Bowman, Senior Director at the Center on Military & Political Power of the think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ (FDD).

If reporting is accurate, Israel did with 3 missiles what Iran could not do with 350 missiles and drones.

Israel has demonstrated the political will and military capability to strike inside Iran – something Israel had to do.

Israel picked a very meaningful target,… https://t.co/yPyPuBWZiF

— Brad Bowman (@Brad_L_Bowman) April 19, 2024

Writing in The New York Times, David E Sanger and Eric Schmitt noted that the usage of Israeli warplanes also sent out a distinct signal.

“It was not immediately clear what types of missiles were used, where they were fired from, whether any were intercepted by Iran’s defenses or where they landed. But just as the drones launched from under Iran’s nose sent a message about Israel’s capabilities, so did guided missiles from Israeli warplanes,” noted Sanger and Schmitt.