Iran defense ministry warns of decisive response to any attacks

Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi rejected a joint statement by the US and 22 other nations accusing Iranian security services of lethal plotting and other actions abroad, calling the allegations political and unsubstantiated.

“The recent joint statement on so-called ‘Iranian state threat activity’ is a collection of political, unsubstantiated and categorically rejected allegations,” Gharibabadi said.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran rejects any attempt to assassinate, kidnap, intimidate or attack individuals outside the framework of international law,” he added.

The statement, released on Wednesday, condemned what it called actions in Europe, North America and Australia by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards intelligence organization, the Quds Force and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security.

Gharibabadi said any hostile act or evidence-free accusation against Iran would be met with a firm legal, political and sovereign response.

The commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters warned that any any further US attacks on Iran would draw a harsher response and risk widening the war.

“We warn that if the United States once again seeks to carry out attacks against heroic Iran, it will receive a harsher response than before, and the fire of war, in addition to creating insecurity in the region, will become more widespread and extensive,” Major General Ali Abdollahi said in a statement, according to IRGC-affiliated Tasnim.

He said recent US threats against Iran’s oil infrastructure meant oil and gas exports would either be possible for everyone or for no one.

“Either oil and gas exports will be possible for everyone, or they will not be possible for anyone,” Abdollahi said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is deeply concerned by the continued escalation in the Middle East, including US strikes on Iran and Iranian strikes on its neighbors, a UN spokesperson said.

"He ⁠urges the parties to return ‌to ​the full implementation of the ​ceasefire and avoid ⁠any further deterioration, ‌which, as he ​told the Security Council yesterday, could ‌trigger a full resumption ​of the conflict, with unpredictable consequences for the ​region and the world, especially the most vulnerable countries," the spokesperson said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards spokesman warned the United States not to attack Iran again, saying Washington would regret it.

“If the United States wants to repeat its previous defeats, it will regret it,” Hossein Mohebbi said.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she had spoken to Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi about the latest escalation in the Persian Gulf and the state of negotiations with the United States.

She warned that renewed attacks on countries astride the Persian Gulf and critical infrastructure were "unacceptable."

Kallas said she had also been in touch with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

“A return to full-scale war would come at a tremendous cost to the entire region. The diplomatic route remains the best path out of this war,” she said on X.