MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. Even as Iran is not seeking to expand the conflict zone as it would like to maintain good relations with neighboring Arab countries, it is forced to deliver strikes on US bases stationed on their territory, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali told Grigory Karasin, the head of the Russian Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, at a meeting.

"We warned prior to the war that our fight is not with you [Arab countries], we stated that Arab countries are our closest neighbors. But we also stated that we will deliver strikes targeting those locations and bases from where we are threatened," the Iranian diplomat explained. "Actually, these neighboring countries allowed the Americans to use their territory. And we exclusively target US military bases stationed in these countries," he added.

Jalali cited a warning from the martyred Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that should the American side wage a war, it would escalate to a regional conflict.

"Of course, we would like to have good relations with neighboring countries. And we are not seeking to expand the conflict zone, but they should realize that they should not have allowed the Americans to use their territory," Jalali continued. "For it is from US bases deployed in those countries that strikes on schools, hospitals, and mosques across our country have been delivered every day," he concluded.

The US and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were hit. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched retaliatory strikes against Israel and US military facilities in Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. The strikes killed Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several other key figures in the Islamic Republic’s leadership. Iran also decided to close the Strait of Hormuz to vessels linked to the US, Israel, and countries that supported the aggression against the Islamic Republic. During the conflict, several tankers were attacked for transiting the strait without Tehran’s permission.

On March 25, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that Iran had allowed friendly countries, including Russia, India, Iraq, China, and Pakistan, to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.