Iran foreign ministry spox calls US ‘lawless and rogue actor’

United States is threat to international peace, says Esmaeil Baghaei

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has voiced the Iranian nation's determination to defend itself against the United Statesd and Israeli aggression as long as it takes.

“This act of aggression cannot be justified by any argument or rule of international law. It is a breach of peace, and the Iranian nation is resolute to defend itself as long as it takes,” Baghaei told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has voiced the Iranian nation's determination to defend itself against the U.S. and Israeli aggression as long as it takes https://t.co/LF4SOn3zEW pic.twitter.com/GvxKEnb8un

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On February 28, Israel and the US launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, assassinating Iran's then-supreme leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians.

Iran responded by launching waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and US bases and assets in the Middle East.

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Baghaei said a "rich" civilisation like Iran would never surrender, although Iranians were attacked under an unjust war. The Iranian people had learned throughout history that they would survive and stay strong in the face of injustice, he stressed.

"No person of common sense regards American authorities' statements and remarks to be trustworthy as they are not stable, change their words and make contradictory remarks about each and every topic of international relations," said the spokesman.

"We did not start this war. It was the US war of choice. They were dragged into this war perhaps by Israel out of their miscalculation that they can easily make Iran surrender," Baghaei said.

Referring to Iran's nuclear programme, Baghaei said the US and Israeli sides knew very well that the country's atomic activities were absolutely peaceful, adding that the two sides "have concocted this big lie for the past three decades that Iran's nuclear programme may get weaponised".

"Our intention is to strengthen our relations with each and every state in the Persian Gulf region and our neighbouring countries," he said, adding that the security and stability of the region were very much dependent on cooperation among the regional countries.

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Iran did not hold any hostility towards any state in the region, Baghaei said. "The reason why at present we are targeting the American bases in the region is that they are scattered around Iran and are being used by the US to conduct military aggression against Iran."

The regional countries were fully recognising the fact that the US military presence in the region had not brought peace and stability, he said.

The US had a long history of disrupting free international trade, including by imposing unilateral sanctions on countries, Baghaei said, describing the US as an actor that was increasingly "lawless and rogue, which poses a serious danger to international peace and security".