Iranupdated 1h ago2 min read
Archive photo · 1 October 2023Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei Accuses U.S. of Deceptive Narrative
“targeted and destroyed a US early-warning radar in Bahrain”
“American officials have now come up with a new deceptive narrative to evade responsibility”
Photo: Jakub Hałun, CC BY 4.0 · Cropped for layout
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Iran accuses the US of unlawful aggression and warns of immediate decisive response. Iranian spokesperson says the US narrative is deceptive to evade responsibility.
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Baqaei rejects US framing
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the United States was pushing a "deceptive narrative" to evade responsibility for the consequences of its "recent military aggression against Iran." Baghaei rejected US President Donald Trump’s assertion that Washington did not initiate the war with Iran, saying Trump claimed Tehran had been waging war against America since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Baghaei argued that "American officials have now come up with a new deceptive narrative to evade responsibility" and said the 1979 Iranian Revolution was aimed at restoring the country’s sovereignty, freedom and human dignity. Baghaei also cited the 1953 CIA-backed coup and said the memory of American interference remained "still fresh in the minds of Iranians then, just as it is today."
UN warning and retaliation
Iran’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Gholamhossein Darzi, told a Security Council meeting that "The United States is the aggressor, not the victim," rejecting Washington’s criticism of Tehran. Darzi warned that any renewed American or Israeli military attack would draw an "immediate and decisive response" from Tehran, and he said the response would be directed against the source of aggression wherever it may be.
Darzi accused Washington of violating Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, bombing civilian infrastructure, threatening the Iranian population with annihilation and imposing a military and maritime blockade. Darzi insisted that "Iran has never closed the door to diplomacy" and said no Security Council resolution could deprive a UN member state of its inherent right of self-defense in the face of armed attack.
Radar claim and legal debate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted and destroyed a US early-warning radar in Bahrain in response to a US airstrike on a communications tower in Sirik overlooking the strait of Hormuz. The IRGC said, "This is a serious warning to the aggressor enemy to end its aerial mischief and oil smuggling in the strait of Hormuz," and it added that the IRGC aerospace force was on full alert to confront the enemy without constraint.
US Central Command denied that the radar system had been destroyed and said US forces had intercepted two Iranian drones headed for Bahrain. A Kyodo News opinion piece, as reproduced by Mehr, argued that the military attacks by the United States and the Zionist entity on Iran were a "clear violation of the prohibition on recourse to force" and said their legality must be assessed under the UN Charter and international law.