MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. Iran is ready to take additional defensive measures if Israel continues to escalate the conflict, Hussein Maliki, adviser at the country’s embassy in Russia, said.

"If the Zionist regime (Israel - TASS) and its Western supporters want to further escalate the conflict, we are ready to take additional defensive measures to protect our legitimate interests," he said at a roundtable discussion dedicated to Kazakhstan's chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

On the evening of April 13, Iran launched drones and missiles toward Israel in response to what it called "repeated crimes" from Tel Aviv, including the attack on the consular office of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus ascribed to Israel. Tehran’s state-run media outlets said that military facilities in Israel were targeted. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed it intercepted 99% of the nearly 350 projectiles launched at Israel with minor damage caused to Nevatim airbase.