Iran FM warns U.S., UK of testing wrath of West Asia

February 5, 2024 - 21:39

TEHRAN- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has decried the recent acts of aggression against the countries in West Asia, cautioning the U.S. and UK about testing the regional countries’ ire.

In a post on his X account on Sunday, Amir Abdollahian stated that Tehran has censured the latest wave of airstrikes by the United States and Britain on Yemen and the deadly strikes by the U.S. occupation forces against a number of sites in Iraq and Syria.

On the sidelines of the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss city of Davos in January, there was a meeting between Amir Abdollahian and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron. In this meeting, Iran’s top diplomat noted that “continuation of war is not a solution.”

“In my meeting with the UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, I clearly said, ‘Continuation of war is not the solution.’ (You) do not (want to) test the wrath of the region. We consider the security of Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank) to be the security of the region,” he wrote in the post, the Foreign Ministry’s website reported.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Friday that its forces had struck more than 85 targets “with numerous aircraft” during overnight raids on localities in Iraq and Syria.

The Syrian state media reported that the U.S. aggression targeted positions in Syria’s eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr and the city of al-Bukamal near the Iraqi border, falling short of providing details on the extent of damage and the exact number of casualties.

Sixteen people were killed, among them civilians, and 25 injured in overnight U.S. airstrikes on targets in Iraq, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s office said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani strongly condemned on Saturday the U.S. military attacks on Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, saying such attacks solely serve the interests of the Zionist regime.

“The continuation of such adventures is a threat to regional and global peace and security,” he added.

The spokesman averred that the root cause of regional crisis lies in “the full support of the United States for four months of relentless and brutal attacks by the Zionist regime against the residents of Gaza and the West Bank, as well as military attacks on Yemen and violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.” 

Kanaani reiterated Tehran’s warning over the spillover of the conflict throughout the region, warning that “continuation of such adventures is a threat to regional and international peace and security.”

He added, “Iran reiterates the responsibility of the international community and the United Nations Security Council in preventing illegal and unilateral U.S. attacks in the region and the expansion of the scope of the crisis.”

Iran's Ambassador to Damascus, Hossein Akbari, disavowed on Saturday allegations that Iranian bases or military advisors have been targeted in deadly strikes by the U.S. forces on a number of sites in Iraq and Syria.

On the contrary, he said that the U.S. attacks were launched to devastate the Syrian civil infrastructure amid the pro-Palestine actions undertaken by the resistance front.

Akbari went on to add that the Biden administration carried out a wave of attacks to compensate for the blows that Israel regime has received in its incursion into the Gaza Strip. 

“The U.S. has attacked positions in Iraq and Syria in a bid to fortify armed Takfiri terrorists based on the borders of Iraq and Syria,” he continued.