Tehran’s message comes after an Iraqi militia declared a halt to operations against American forces
Iran vowed to respond “decisively” to any attack on its interests after US President Joe Biden said he has decided on how to retaliate against a weekend strike in Jordan that killed three American soldiers.
The warning from Iran’s United Nations envoy Amir Saeid Iravani follows an announcement by Tehran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah that it is suspending attacks against US troops.
Meanwhile, Houthi rebels in Yemen have continued launching strikes against commercial shipping and naval ships in the Red Sea.
Overnight on Tuesday, US Navy guided missile destroyer the USS Gravely said it shot down a cruise missile fired towards the Red Sea.
The Houthis claimed the attack on Wednesday.
The Iran-backed group, which like Kataib Hezbollah says it is acting in support of Palestinians in the Israel-Gaza war, has an arsenal of ballistic and cruise missiles that the US and UN say are supplied by Iran.
Mr Iravani’s statement came hours after US President Joe Biden said he has decided on how to retaliate against a weekend strike in Jordan, for which the US accused Iran-backed groups.
Three US soldiers were killed and 40 wounded in the drone strike.
“The Islamic Republic would decisively respond to any attack on the county, its interests and nationals under any pretexts,” the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported Mr Iravani as saying.
The Iranian envoy also denied any exchange of messages between his country and US over the past two days, Irna added.
“Such messages have not been exchanged”, he said.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps chief Hossein Salami also responded to the warning from Washington.
“We hear threats coming from American officials, we tell them that they have already tested us and we now know one another,” Mr Salami said, according to the IRGC-aligned Tasnim news agency.
“No threat will be left unanswered,” he added.
In January 2020, the IRGC attacked Ain Al Asad airbase in Iraq, where American troops are stationed, after Qassem Soleimani, commander of its elite Quds Force, was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad.
Mr Biden said he has decided how he will respond to Sunday’s attack. He blamed Iran for supplying weapons used.
“I do hold [Tehran] responsible, in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons to the people who did it,” Mr Biden said.
“I don’t think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That’s not what I’m looking for.”
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