Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says the United Nations Security Council's inaction on Israel's attacks on Iran's diplomatic premises in Syria prompted Tehran to take a retaliatory action against the regime.
Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in a phone call with South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor on Saturday, referring to Iran's retaliatory strikes on the Israeli-occupied territories last week -- dubbed Operation True Promise.
After Israel's airstrikes on Iranian diplomatic sites in the Syrian capital of Damascus, the UN Security Council refrained from giving a proper response to the move while some permanent members of the world body (the US, Britain and France) blocked condemnation of the crime, he said.
Under its inherent right and the legitimate self-defense principle, the Islamic Republic then hit two Israeli military and intelligence bases that were used by the regime to conduct the attacks in Syria, the top Iranian diplomat emphasized.
"After the operation (True Promise), Iran announced to the international community, including the United States, that it does not seek to expand the war, but if the Israeli regime takes any action against the Islamic Republic of Iran again, it will respond strongly," Amir-Abdollahian pointed out.