White House cautions Iran against responding to Israel's retaliation

Washington, Oct 31
The White House has cautioned Iran against responding to Israel's retaliation, saying that the US will support Israel in defending itself if Iran chooses to respond.

"Iran should not respond to Israel's retaliation. They should not. If they choose to do so, we will support Israel in defending itself. But Iran should not respond to Israel's retaliation," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a media interaction on Wednesday.

Last Saturday, Israel launched airstrikes targeting what it described as military targets in Iran in retaliation for a ballistic missile assault on October 1.

Israel's military had described the attack as "precise strikes on military targets in Iran". Meanwhile, Iran's air defence headquarters had said it "successfully countered" the Israeli attacks, which resulted in only "limited damage".

On Tuesday, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi said that Israel will bear the consequences for attacking Iran.

At a meeting in the capital Tehran with the ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions, the United Nations offices, and international organisations in Iran, Araghchi said that Israel and its "enablers" cannot avoid the political and legal responsibility for aggression on Iranian soil and must be held accountable for it.

Iran "has fully reserved its legal right to respond appropriately to such a clear aggression", he said, while stressing that Iran would neither hesitate in doing so nor act hastily.