Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Washington’s plan to form a military coalition in the Persian Gulf is a threat to his country’s security, warning that Tehran is resolute about protecting its interests. The top diplomat, described the Persian Gulf as a vital lifeline, and accordingly a national security priority for Iran.
He added that Iran has long acted as the guarantor of maritime security in the body of water, emphasizing that the Islamic Republic will compromise on safeguarding its security.
Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi said that his country will see Israel's membership in the US-led military coalition in the Persian Gulf region as a material threat to its national security, warning that Tehran will counter Tel Aviv’s presence in the region in self-defense.
“The announcement made about the possible presence of the al-Quds occupying regime in the [US’] self-proclaimed military coalition in the Persian Gulf region is a blatant threat to Iran’s national security,” Mousavi said on Friday.
The diplomat warned that Iran reserves the right of self-defense to counter the threat, cautioning Washington and Tel Aviv that the dire repercussions of the move are blamed on them.
On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said that his country will join the US-led coalition, “to protect trade routes in the Persian Gulf”.
On Thursday, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami warned that any new war in the region will be a major threat to Israel, describing the issue as a main source of concern for the US.
"We are now in a full-scale war with the big powers," General Salami asserted.
According to Fars News Agancy, he underlined that Washington has no appetite for confrontation against Iran as it knows that "a new war will put the Zionist regime under a full-scale threat".
Also, last month, General Salami had warned Tehran’s adversaries in the Persian Gulf that the country’s armed forces would immediately shift from defensive pose to an offensive one should any miscalculated move be made against Iran.
“As far as the strategy is concerned, we act defensively, meaning that we will not be the ones to start or initiate any war,” Major General Salami said.