Iran denies attacking civilian sites in Gulf amid ongoing tensions
Iran’s ambassador to the UN denied Tehran’s attacks on civilian sites in the Gulf, despite evidence and ongoing military tensions in the region.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken condemned Iran’s statements, reaffirming commitment to Gulf allies and denouncing any threats to regional security.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has instructed armed forces not to attack neighbouring countries unless provoked, signalling a potential de-escalation in regional military tensions.
Briefing summary
Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Ali Bahreini, denied claims of Tehran attacking civilian sites in the Gulf, accusing the US and Israel of false attributions amidst ongoing military tensions.
Bahreini stated that Iran is ready to share information with Gulf states regarding its military actions, asserting that attacks are only directed at military bases and not civilian areas.
He warned that any facility used to launch attacks against Iran, even those in Europe, could be deemed a legitimate target, signalling potential escalation in regional security concerns.
Iran’s UN ambassador denies Tehran attacked civilian sites in the Gulf region despite evidence
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Tehran did not attack civilian sites in the Gulf region amid the ongoing military escalation in the Middle East, Iran’s ambassador to the UN office in Geneva told EU News.
In an exclusive interview, Ali Bahreini accused the US and Israel of attacking civilian targets in Iran, but denied that Tehran is attacking civilian sites across the Gulf region, despite existing evidence proving Iran was behind the strikes.
“I cannot accept that claim,” Bahreini told EU News when asked about Iranian attacks on the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
“But they should not allow the United States to use their lands and those facilities to attack Iran”.
EU News journalists on the ground in Dubai and Doha have been documenting Tehran’s attacks on civilian sites, including airports, residential buildings and hotels.
Bahreini rejected these claims, calling them “not verified”.
He said Iran has been “in contact” with the Gulf states “to explain for them what we have done and what we haven’t done”.
“We are ready to share information with them about the operations we have made, about the measures we have taken, and if they have any evidence, we are ready to verify it.”
But he also accused the US and Israel of trying to set up Tehran.
“There has been a big number of cases in which the United States or Israel have made some operations in those countries to attribute it to Iran,” he claimed without providing more evidence.
“Our military forces have given a very clear assurance that they are not targeting civilian targets in those countries. The only thing they are doing is to target military bases”.
At the same time, the Iranian ambassador alluded to the fact that the US could allegedly be using civilian sites in the Gulf region for military purposes.
In this case, he continued, civilian sites are becoming “as a legitimate target for Iran”.
When confronted with this evidence and asked about what would be the purpose for the US and Israel to target civilian sites across the region, Bahreini claimed it would be to “drag those countries into war”.
The ambassador’s comments came a few days after Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian apologised to his Gulf neighbours for the strikes.
He also said that Iran’s armed forces had been instructed that “from now on they should not attack neighbouring countries or fire missiles at them, unless we are attacked from those countries.”
This statement was made before the new, hardline Ayatollah Mojtaba Khameini was appointed.
Iranian ambassador to UN not ruling out attacks on Europe
Bahreini said Iranian officials “have rejected these news about making any attack in the space of Turkey”.
Yet he also said that as with the Gulf region, Iran will attack any base or facility “which are used in order to attack our country”, even if that site is in Europe.
“Any facility, any base which is used to attack Iran would be a legitimate target for our military force”, he told EU News, not ruling out attacks on Europe.
“Our military forces will define their defensive policies according to the threat and extent of the threats which are imposed against our country”.
Tens of thousands of US troops are stationed across Europe on around 40 military bases.