WANA (Jun 13) – Following the criminal assault carried out by the Israeli regime at dawn today against Iran, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, issued a statement.

 

The full text of the statement is as follows:

 

The overnight aggression by the Israeli regime against our homeland, which resulted in the martyrdom of our citizens, commanders, and esteemed scientists, has once again proven that this illegitimate regime respects no international laws or norms. Like a mad drunkard, it openly and shamelessly resorts to terrorism and fuels the flames of war before the eyes of the world — including Western governments that claim to defend human rights and international law.

 

Starting a war with Iran is playing with fire — the fire of a lion’s fury. This cowardly nighttime operation, carried out while diplomatic efforts around Iran’s nuclear issue were ongoing, reveals the regime’s deep fear of Iran’s persuasive power and legitimate defense. Although we Iranians have not initiated a single war in the past 200 years, we have never hesitated — and will never hesitate — to defend our homeland.

 

The Israeli regime’s incursion into Iran’s sacred airspace and the cowardly assassination of our commanders proves its inherently terrorist nature. The bloodshed it inflicted on Iranian lives shows the absurdity of claims that Israel’s terrorist goals target the Iranian government but not its people. This attack exposed that lie in the most brutal way.

 

Today, more than ever, all of us — the people, the government, and the leadership of Iran — speak with one voice: the Zionist regime is a terrorist and aggressor. Retaliation and self-defense are our legitimate rights. Unified and determined, beyond any political division, we will deliver a firm response to this child-killing terrorist regime.

 

Defending our land, skies, citizens, commanders, scientists, and all our people is the solemn duty of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its armed forces — a duty we will never neglect.

 

With a regime this savage, there is no language but the language of strength. The world now better understands why Iran insists on its right to enrichment, nuclear technology, and missile capability. Our enemy has unintentionally helped reveal who the true aggressor is — who it is that endangers regional security — and affirmed the justice of our cause.

 

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has already begun the necessary defensive, political, and legal measures to ensure the illegitimate Israeli regime regrets its actions. From now on, there will be no peace in their sleep.

 

We will avenge each and every one of our martyrs. This violation of Iran’s sovereignty will become an unforgivable crime forever attached to the name of the occupying regime.

 

We call on the United Nations Security Council to defend the foundations of international order and its own credibility. But we will not wait on international bodies. As the Leader of the Islamic Revolution has declared: “The powerful hand of Iran’s armed forces will not let go of this regime, God willing.” Retaliation is near — closer than Israel’s terrorist leaders can imagine.

 

This is the voice of a nation and a state — bearing witness to the world that we did not start this war.

 

But the end of this story will be written by Iran.