Iran’s chargé d’affaires in London said his country would respond more severely if Israel attacked it again in ‘another mistake’
Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to trap the west into a total war across the Middle East that would have incalculable consequences for the region and the world, Iran’s top diplomat in the UK has claimed, in his first interview since Tehran launched an unprecedented missile and drone attack against Israel at the weekend.
Seyed Mehdi Hosseini Matin also warned that if Israel made “another mistake” by launching an attack on Iran, there would be a response from Iran that was stronger, more severe, and administered without a warning like that issued before the weekend attack.
“The response to the next mistake of the Zionist will not take 12 days’ time. It will be decided as soon as we see what the hostile regime has done. It will be immediate, and without warning. It will be stronger and more severe,” said Matin, Iran’s chargé d’affaires in London. He ruled out Iran attacking civilian centres or building a nuclear weapon, even though
he said Iran knew Israel was an undeclared nuclear state.
Pretty much figured everyone knew Israel was an undeclared nuclear state
Matin, who has been Iran’s senior diplomat in the UK since February 2022 when the ambassador was recalled, denied that Iran had made a strategic mistake by attacking Israel’s military bases, so shifting attention from Gaza to the wider regional conflict in which Iran’s long-term role came into question.
Matin argued that the west was losing credibility in the Middle East in a way that would ultimately lead to the US leaving the region, and a peace being reached by regional powers alone.
“This is a good opportunity for western countries to demonstrate that they are rational actors, and they are not going to be entrapped by Netanyahu and his goal, which is to be in power for as long as he could actually stay in power,” he claimed.
“Iran has considered its actions very carefully, and understood that there is a trap, but not for Iran, for the western countries and allied countries in which they are drawn by the Zionist state into a total war inside the Middle East, and the whole world soon may be unable to control the consequences.”
Matin insisted that before the attack on Israel, Iran had urged western officials – including the British foreign secretary, David Cameron – to back a UN security council statement condemning Israel for attacking the Iranian consulate in Damascus. It had also urged the west to back an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, he said.
Matin said Cameron had last week refused the Iranian request, even though this week he had admitted that the UK would have responded very strongly if a hostile power flattened a British consulate. “As Cameron mentioned, rightly, every nation has the right to defend itself against this kind of flagrant breach of diplomatic and international law.”
He also denied Cameron’s claims that there could have been thousands of civilian casualties if the mass attack of Iranian drones and missiles, which decisively moved its years-long shadow war with Israel into the open, had penetrated the defence of Israel and its allies. He said he found such an accusation extraordinary coming from a government that had armed a regime that had killed 34,000 Palestinians.
“Iranian forces didn’t target any populated sites so as to prevent human casualties, nor did it attack government buildings and centres. It was a legitimate defence operation that was conducted in a way that gave considerable warning,” he said. “Now, I can say that the mission is accomplished. And that’s it. That’s what we have announced very publicly, that that mission is concluded.”
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The latest from Israel – Israel won’t strike Iran until after Passover
Israel will probably hold off on retaliating against Iran until the Jewish holiday of Passover has passed, ABC News reported on Wednesday.
A senior U.S. official said that Israel’s decision “could always change,” adding that Iran’s senior officials and Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) continue to be on high alert, with some staying in safe houses and underground facilities.
Passover will begin this coming Monday, just over a week after Iran attacked Israel with hundreds of drones and missiles in response to the alleged Israeli strike that killed several Iranian officers in Damascus, Syria.
While Israeli officials have asserted that Israel will respond, the country’s leadership continues to discuss the right timing. Israeli sources told ABC News that two times last week strikes against Iran were prepared and then canceled.