Direct threat: Do not provoke, it will erupt in an hour... Open war
Iranian diplomats have warned that US military action against their country would risk starting an open war, according to Newsweek.
Source: B92, M.J.
The comments come amid speculation about Washington's possible involvement in a recent drone attack on an Iranian military factory.
"Using the military option at any level means US entering into war," Tehran's permanent mission to the UN told Newsweek on Monday. Iran currently considers such a possibility to be weak, according to the statement.
It is added, however, that if "the US makes wrong calculations and starts a war", the consequences will be serious for the region and the wider world, and Washington will also bear them.
The comments followed an attack on an Iranian defense ministry facility in the central city of Isfahan on Saturday night. Several news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and the Jerusalem Post, reported that Israel launched the attack from Iran. The attack reportedly involved three small drones with explosive charges.
Israel usually neither confirms nor denies claims of operations against Iran, although it is suspected of staging numerous sabotage attacks and assassinations of Iranian officials and scientists.
Arab media initially speculated that the explosions in Isfahan were the result of a US Air Force operation. Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder later said US forces were not involved in the attack but refused to comment further.
Iranian officials did not assign blame to either side and claimed that the attack caused minimal damage to the roof of the building, contrary to claims of great success reported by the Jerusalem Post.
Meanwhile, an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hinted that his country might be involved. Kyiv has accused Iran of supplying Russia with loose ammunition for its military operation in Ukraine, which Tehran and Moscow have denied.
Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted that "the logic of war is inexorable and murderous" and that Ukraine had "warned" Iran. An aide to Zelensky previously called for attacks on Iran for its alleged aid to Russia. Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Kyiv's Chargé d'Affaires in protest over Podolyak's statements.
