A man checks the front page of a newspaper in Tehran. — AFP photo
DUBAI: Iran said yesterday it would respond firmly to any US threat against it, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, amid escalating tension between Tehran and Washington over the shooting down of an unmanned US drone by the Islamic Republic.
On Thursday, an Iranian missile destroyed a US Global Hawk surveillance drone. Tehran said the drone was shot down over its territory and Washington said it had occurred in international airspace.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday he aborted a military strike to retaliate for Iran’s downing of the US drone because it could have killed 150 people, and signalled he was open to talks with Tehran.
Iran has vowed to defend its borders.
“Regardless of any decision they (US officials) make … we will not allow any of Iran’s borders to be violated. Iran will firmly confront any aggression or threat by America,” foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told Tasnim.
Worries about a confrontation between Iran and the United States have mounted despite Trump saying that he has no appetite to go to war with Iran. Tehran has also said it is not seeking a war but has warned of a ‘crushing’ response if attacked.
“Any mistake by Iran’s enemies, in particular America and its regional allies, would be like firing at a powder keg that will burn America, its interests and its allies to the ground,” the senior spokesman of Iran’s Armed Forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, told Tasnim on Saturday.
The United States and Iran’s main regional rival Saudi Arabia have blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers last week in the Gulf of Oman and on four tankers off the United Arab Emirates on May 12, both near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a major conduit for global oil supplies.
Iran has denied any involvement in those incidents. — Reuters