9 min ago
Iran would have "no choice but to retaliate" if US joins Israeli attacks, deputy foreign minister says
From CNN’s Amanpour team and Catherine Nicholls
If the US decides to join Israel in attacking Iran, Tehran would have “no choice” but to retaliate, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi told CNN.
“If the Americans decide to get involved militarily, we have no choice but to retaliate wherever we find the targets necessary to be acted upon,” Ravanchi said in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “That is clear and simple. Because we are acting in self-defense.”
Ravanchi also said that his country’s leadership now doubts “the sincerity of the Americans” given the timing of Israel’s first attack.
“Two days before the next round started, the aggression took place. So this is a betrayal of diplomacy. This is the betrayal of our trust to Americans,” he said, referring to
nuclear deal talks that were underway with the US. “We should be the ones who should criticize the way that we were treated by the Americans, not vice versa.”
No outreach from Tehran: According to the deputy foreign minister, Tehran has not reached out to the US or Israel to try to resume nuclear talks since hostilities erupted.
“We are not reaching out to anybody,” he said. “We are defending ourselves. Although we have always promoted diplomacy … we cannot negotiate under the threats. We cannot negotiate while our people are under bombardment every day. So we are not begging for anything, we are just defending ourselves.”
He also argued that the attack had rallied Iranians around their government.
“Now there is a very strong cohesion within the Iranian society to resist aggression, to resist foreign interference in our domestic affairs,” Ravanchi said.
Israeli officials have been urging Iranian civilians to rise up against the current government, arguing that now is the time for regime change with leaders in Tehran “weakened” by the conflict.
