Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said the weapons that were used in the drone attack over Isfahan in central Iran in the early hours of Friday were more like ‘children’s toys’.
“What happened last night was not a strike. They were more like toys that our children play with – not drones,” Hossein Amirabdollahian was quoted as saying by US broadcaster NBC News.
Amirabdollahian, who is currently in the US’ New York to attend a UN Security Council session, said Iran is not planning to respond to the attack unless Israel makes a significant move.
“As long as there is no new adventurism by Israel against our interests, then we are not going to have any new reactions,” he was quoted as saying.
Amirabdollahian also warned of a swift and severe response if Israel did choose to attack Iran. “If Israel takes decisive action against my country (and) this is proven to us, our response will be immediate and to the maximum and will cause them to regret it,” he further added.
Tensions between Iran and Israel reached their highest point this year when Israel bombed an Iranian consular building in the Syrian capital of Damascus on April 1. The strike killed two high-ranking generals and five officers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Iran responded by launching an unprecedented, direct military attack on Israel involving more than 300 missiles and drones after 12 days. There was no major damage as nearly all of the missiles and drones were intercepted by Israeli air defence systems, US, UK and Jordanian jets.
Amirabdollahian said the attack was “a warning”. “We could have hit Haifa and Tel Aviv. We could have also targeted all the economic ports of Israel. But our red lines were civilians. We only had a military purpose,” the Iranian foreign minister said.
Israel retaliated on Thursday when it struck the military airfield near central Iran’s Isfahan. The Iranian media did not report any casualties and said that nuclear facilities in the area were not damaged.
Former Israeli Intelligence official and regional analyst Avi Melamed said that the attack on Iran was meant to project deterrence. “Israel’s strike early this morning on Iran projects deterrence, sending the strong message to Tehran that Isfahan, and the Iranian nuclear centres in its vicinity, as well as the entire country of Iran, are within range for Israeli counterstrikes should it further escalate,” Melamed said.
The attack, however, was met mostly with silence from top Israeli officials. News agency Reuters citing experts said that the public statements released after the attack indicate that both sides are looking to ease tensions.
American officials also called for calm. “We do not want to see this conflict escalate,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.
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