Iran’s foreign minister refused to admit that he was behind Israel on Friday the last attack on his country and described the weapons used as looking more like children’s toys.
“What happened last night was not a holiday,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told NBC News’ Tom Llamas. “They were more like the toys our children played with – not a drone.”
Speaking to NBC News in New York, where he attended the UN Security Council meeting, Amirabdollahian said that unless Israel launches a significant attack, Iran does not plan to respond.
He said Israel had not claimed responsibility for Thursday’s strikes and that his country was still investigating what happened.
“The information reported in the media is not accurate,” Amirabdollahian said.
He warned that if Israel attacks Iran, the response will be swift and severe.
“If Israel takes decisive action against my country and it is proven to us, our response will be immediate and maximum and will make them regret it,” he said.
For more on this story, tune into NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt tonight at 6:30 PM ET/5:30 PM CT or check your local listings.
The latest round of violence between Israel and Iran began on April 1 with Israel’s launch The building of the Iranian consulate was bombed Two generals and five officers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in Damascus, the capital of Syria.
Iran responded 12 days later An unprecedented direct military attack on Israel Includes more than 300 missiles and drones. No serious damage was done as a result of the attack. Almost all missiles and drones have been captured by Israel, the United States and other allied forces.
Although Israel is closed shadow war In decades of Iran arming and training proxy forces hostile to Israel in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, the Iranian airstrike was the first time Tehran had staged an open military attack on Israel.
In the days that followed, the Biden administration urged Israel to exercise restraint and avoid a retaliatory attack that could lead to an all-out war between the two enemies.
Israel struck a military airfield near the city of Isfahan in central Iran on Thursday night. According to Iranian state media, nuclear facilities in the area were not damaged and there were no reports of human casualties.
The attack was downplayed by Iranian state media and largely met with silence from Israeli officials. According to experts, the limited scale of the strike and the subsequent lack of public disclosure indicate that both sides are trying to reduce tensions.
US officials also called for calm. “We don’t want to see this conflict escalate,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.
Amirabdollahian echoed similar sentiments, but warned that Iran would respond with maximum force if Israel engaged in what he described as more “adventurous” action.
“If Israel makes the next mistake, our next response will be decisive and immediate.