TEHRAN, June 19. /TASS/. Tehran is considering all courses of action in response to the US potentially interfering in the conflict with Iran on the side of Israel, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said.
"If the US wants to actively intervene in support of Israel, Iran will have no other option but to use its tools to teach aggressors a lesson and defend itself," the senior diplomat said. "Our military decision-makers have all necessary options on the table," the ISNA news agency quoted him as saying.
"Our recommendation to the US is to at least stand by if they do not wish to stop Israel’s aggression," Gharibabadi said, according to state media outlets.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that the United States was preparing for a potential strike on Iran in the coming days, though there was uncertainty as to whether these plans might change. The Wall Street Journal revealed that on the evening of June 17, President Donald Trump informed his aides that he had approved a plan to attack Iran but had not yet issued the order, expecting Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
Overnight into June 13, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, aimed at Iran’s nuclear program. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that 200 fighter jets attacked more than 100 targets in Iran, including nuclear facilities.
On the evening of June 13, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that Iran retaliated by attacking dozens of targets in Israel with missiles, including military facilities and air bases, striking, in particular, the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. In the following days, Israel and Iran exchanged more strikes. Both sides reported casualties and losses as a result of these attacks and admitted that some targets were hit but claimed that the damage was limited. Russia has condemned Israel’s actions and expressed readiness to mediate the conflict.