OMM Newsroom
Iran warned on Tuesday that any US military attack would be met with retaliation, rejecting claims that Washington had sent a message asking Tehran not to respond to a potential strike, Anadolu Agency reported.
At his weekly press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei called the idea that the US could attack Iran without facing retaliation an “illusion”. He said Tehran had shown it would not leave any military strike unanswered.
“If our response is not stronger, it will certainly be equal in force,” Baqaei said.
He said the era in which the US could carry out attacks and withdraw without consequences was over. His remarks followed claims about a possible US attack on Pickaxe Mountain, also known as Kuh-e Kolang, in Iran.
Baqaei says Iran has not entered nuclear talks with US
Baqaei said Tehran had not begun nuclear negotiations with Washington and therefore had no details of such talks to discuss with Russia or other countries.
“We have not entered nuclear negotiations with the American side to discuss their details with other parties,” he said.
He rejected speculation that Iran had softened its position on the nuclear issue, saying Tehran remained committed to its principles and national interests.
Baqaei described Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Tehran as part of regular consultations between the two countries. He said the visit had been planned for months and was intended to discuss bilateral relations and regional and international developments.
The discussions covered the Caucasus, Europe, the Ukraine conflict, the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear programme, Baqaei said. He added that Russia had played an important role in earlier negotiations that led to the 2015 nuclear agreement and remained willing to help reduce tensions.
Iran says diplomacy remains an option
Baqaei said Tehran would continue to pursue diplomatic opportunities despite its longstanding distrust of Washington. He accused the US of repeatedly breaking its commitments, including after withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear agreement in 2018.
He said Iran’s diplomatic institutions could not abandon negotiations solely because of past experience.
“If there is even the slightest possibility that diplomacy can prevent an escalation of tensions, we must pursue that path,” he said.
Baqaei said Iran’s priority was to protect its national interests and security, whether through diplomacy or military defence.
He also rejected a resolution adopted at an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers’ meeting in Baghdad that expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia over attacks by Yemen’s Houthis. Baqaei said Iran had formally opposed the resolution and did not regard it as a valid OIC decision, arguing that the organization’s procedural rules had not been followed.
According to Baqaei, Tehran also prevented two paragraphs on Yemen from being included in the meeting’s final declaration, saying their wording would deepen divisions among Muslim countries. He said the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Yemen should be resolved through dialogue and reconciliation, not military force.
“The issue of Yemen cannot be resolved through force and military means,” he said.
Baqaei urged neighbouring countries to prevent foreign powers from using their territory and military facilities to threaten or attack other states. He said doing so was essential to lasting regional security and good-neighbourly relations.
He also accused Israel’s policies and territorial expansion of contributing to regional instability. Baqaei said the war in Gaza had not ended Palestinians’ suffering and repeated Tehran’s criticism of US and European support for Israel.
Baqaei said Tehran and Islamabad were working to resolve problems caused by the closure of their shared border. He said Pakistani officials had told Iran that technical issues and system upgrades were responsible for the disruption, and expressed confidence that the matter would be resolved.
