Iran Says It Will Exercise Right of ‘Self-Defense’ at ‘Right Time and Place’

 

An advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei downplayed the Israeli attack, saying it was 'much ado about nothing'

by Dave DeCamp October 29, 2024 at 1:11 pm ET 

CategoriesNewsTagsIran, Israel

Amid speculation over whether Iran will respond to Israel’s recent airstrikes on Iranian territory, a spokeswoman for the Iranian government said Tuesday that Iran has a “legitimate right” to self-defense and warned it will exercise that right at the “appropriate time and place.”

A day earlier, Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, downplayed the Israeli attack on Iran, saying it was “much ado about nothing.” He said Israel was trying to start a regional war, saying it “has the potential to set the volatile Middle East region on fire and to create the spark that would set the regional powder keg alight.”

The Israeli strikes on Iran were launched early Saturday morning and killed four Iranian soldiers and one civilian. Iran has downplayed the damage that was done to its air defenses, saying everything has already been repaired, while Western media reports say some air defense systems were completely destroyed.

Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said the Israeli attack was an attempt to distract from Israel’s failures in Gaza and Lebanon. “The Zionist regime is gravely mistaken in thinking it can disrupt the unity of the Iranian people with such actions. It fails to realize that such actions only strengthen our national solidarity,” she said, according to Iran’s PressTV.

Mohajerani also announced that Iran would be increasing its military budget by 200% to build up its defenses. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Iran spent $10.3 billion on its military in 2023. The new budget is expected to be finalized by Iran’s parliament in March 2025.

Mohajerani made clear the plans to significantly increase the military budget was a response to Israeli aggression in the region.

The Israeli attack came after Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1 in response to a series of Israeli escalations in the region, including the killing of Hamas’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, while he was visiting Tehran. The Iranian attack killed one Palestinian in the West Bank, who was hit by shrapnel, and damaged some Iranian military sites.

https://news.antiwar.com/2024/10/29/iran-says-it-will-exercise-right-of-self-defense-at-right-time-and-place/