By Sune Engel Rasmussen
Iranian military officials said Sunday's strikes against the country's nuclear facilities had violated Iranian sovereignty, making the U.S. a party to the war and its assets a legitimate target.
"By attacking Iran, the United States has opened the doors for the Armed Forces to take any action," said Brig. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, who was appointed chief of staff of Iran's armed forces after his predecessor was killed in the first Israel strikes against the country earlier this month.
Mousavi said that by supporting Israel's aggression, "America has now openly and directly entered the war, violating the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran and infringing upon the sacred soil of our homeland," according to Iranian state media. "We will never back down from this," Mousavi said.
The U.S. has military bases and embassies scattered across the Middle East, including in neighboring Iraq where they have come under attack in the past from Iranian-backed militias. Following the U.S. killing of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani in 2020, Iran launched 12 ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases housing American troops, causing traumatic brain injuries in 110 service personnel.
Another military official, Col. Ibrahim Zolfaghari, said the U.S. attack would "expand the scope of legitimate and diverse targets for the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, paving the way for a broader conflict in the region." Zolfaghari is spokesperson for Khatam al-Anbiya, an engineering firm under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 23, 2025 06:09 ET (10:09 GMT)
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