IRAN has warned that the ongoing war involving Israel and the United States against it could spiral into a much bigger conflict if the rest of the world remain silent.
Speaking on Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said the situation could worsen beyond the Middle East if no action is taken. He said Iran had preferred talks long before the strikes.
“They must stop the war,” he said, referring to Israel and the US.
Missile attacks were carried out by the US and Israel on Saturday, only hours after Tehran and Washington concluded several rounds of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Although no agreement was reached, both sides had described the discussions as progressing. Israel later said the strikes were “pre-emptive”.
Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said the operation was aimed at eliminating dangers facing his country, describing it as an effort to “remove threats against the State of Israel”.
Iran’s Baghaei warned that the consequences of the attacks would not be limited to the region.
“The international community must decide to fulfill its responsibility before it is too late,” he said, according to Al-Jazeera.
“The process that has begun will soon engulf Europe. The fire that the US and the Zionist regime ignited, will engulf the entire world.
“All of Europe’s approaches are contradictory. Any violation of the law and any breach of moral principles and the UN Charter will have consequences that affect every single human being on earth. If European countries understand this, they will certainly move out of their state of indifference.”
On Monday, US President Donald Trump said he was open to holding fresh talks with Iran’s new leadership.
However, Baghaei said Iran’s priority had shifted to defending his country.
“Eternal disgrace will remain upon those who claimed to pursue diplomacy but, in the face of Iran’s logic, bowed down and turned to the military option,” he said.
The ICIR reported that explosions were heard in the Iranian cities of Kermanshah, Lorestan, Tabriz, Isfahan, and Karaj on Saturday, February 28.
The bombardments killed the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some of his top officials. Iran responded by launching missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighbouring Gulf Arab states.
According to Trump, the operation targeted Iran’s missile capabilities, naval assets, and military infrastructure linked to regional militant groups.
“We are going to destroy their missiles and raise their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated. We’re going to annihilate their Navy.
“We’re going to ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilise the region or the world and attack our forces, and no longer use their IEDs or roadside bombs, as they are sometimes called to so gravely wound and kill thousands and thousands of people, including many Americans. And we will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon,” he added.
The president framed the campaign as a continuation of longstanding US policy aimed at stopping Iran’s nuclear ambitions, referencing earlier strikes on nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.