Why Iran is attacking its neighbours: Deputy foreign minister answers

When Israel struck Iran last Saturday in a coordinated operation with the US, Tehran struck back, but its retaliation was not limited to Israel. Iran also struck its neighbours, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain. While the retaliatory attacks against Israel were not particularly unprecedented, the conflict engulfing almost all of West Asia was striking.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi, when asked by CNN about why the country attacked its neighbours, said, “We have good relations with our neighbours. At the same time, before the (US and Israeli) aggression, we informed our neighbours that if America or Israel engages in animosity against Iran, we would target American assets and bases in the region in our self-defence.”

The minister added that American bases in these West Asian countries are “legitimate targets” as per Article 54 of the United Nations Charter. Ravanchi was further asked to explain Iranian attacks on a popular hotel in Dubai, to which he replied, “Our policy remains the same. We attacked military bases and targets. If they [move] from one place to another, then that is not our problem.”

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The minister also brushed off responsibility for the attack that destroyed Saudi Arabia’s Aramco Refinery. He said, “We are not responsible for that. We are already in touch with our Saudi brothers and we have talked about this issue. Iran is not responsible for the attacks against oil installations in Saudi Arabia.”

Trump warns of longer war

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump warned that his attack on Iran could run longer than a month, as Tehran retaliated to ongoing strikes by targeting US allies in the Gulf and drones hit the US embassy in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Shortly after the United States urged Americans to flee all Middle Eastern nations from Egypt eastward, two drones hit the US embassy in Riyadh, sparking a quick vow by Trump to retaliate “soon”, without elaborating how.

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Trump said that the war, which began Saturday with a strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was going “substantially” ahead of schedule but that the United States was equipped for a prolonged conflict.

“From the beginning we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that,” Trump said at the White House.