Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian: We Informed Our Neighbors 72 Hours Before Our Attack On Israel; We Warned In Advance That If U.S. Bases In Arab Countries Are Used To Defend Israel, We Will Attack Them

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in an April 14, 2024, address to foreign ambassadors that aired on IRINN TV (Iran), that Iran had warned its neighbors 72 hours before its UAV and missile attack against Israel. He said that they told their neighbors that their goal was only to hit Israeli targets, not American bases in the region. However, he said, if the U.S. used the airspace or soil of these countries to defend Israel, they too would become targets.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian: "We limited our legitimate defense and our punishing of the Zionist regime in the sense that we did not define any non-military target in our retaliation. Our armed forces did not hit any economic site or population center.

"About 72 hours before the operation, we informed our dear neighbors and the countries in the region that Iran's retaliation – as part of its legitimate defense – is certain, but that we view the security of our neighbors and of the region, as the security of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

"To our brothers and friends in the region, where there are American military bases, we said that our goal in this legitimate defense was purely to punish the Israeli regime and that we were not interested in targeting the U.S. forces and bases in the region. We emphasized that we have never welcomed the increase in tensions in the region.

"However, we warned that if the U.S. would use the airspace or soil of the relevant countries to defend and unilaterally support Tel Aviv, there would be no choice but to hit the U.S. base in that [Arab] country."