Iran has no restrictions in defending national interests

Speaking to the reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning, Ashtiani referred to the anti-terrorist operation carried out by the IRGC on Takfiri and Mossad positions in Iraq and Syria.

Iran knows no restrictions in defending its national interest and people, the defense minister emphasized, adding, "We condemn terrorism all over the world. (Regarding) Any kind of action that violates the rights of the Iranian people, we will definitely react and we will react strongly and we will not set any limits."

The Islamic Republic of Iran respects the rights, interests, and territorial integrity of all countries, especially its neighbors, but will not accept any mischief in its borders, he further stressed.

He went on to say that Iran has different kinds of missiles in different ranges below 2000 km and will use them whenever it feels necessary. "These missiles have different ranges, warheads, and capabilities," he noted.

"We are a missile power in the world. We have cruise and ballistic missiles and we are trying to improve the level of technology in the missile field," Ashtiani said, adding, "It doesn't matter to us, wherever they want to threaten the Islamic Republic of Iran, we will react and this reaction will definitely be proportionate, tough, and decisive."

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) had fired barrages of ballistic missiles against facilities belonging to the Daesh and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Takfiri terrorist groups in Syria. Daesh had claimed responsibility for two explosions that killed nearly 100 people and wounded scores of others at a memorial for Iran’s top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman on January 3.

In a simultaneous operation on Monday, the IRGC struck an espionage unit used by anti-Iranian terrorist groups associated with the Israeli regime in Erbil, the capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

The operations were carried out after numerous warnings from the Islamic Republic of Iran issued to the main supporters of terrorists in the region, the United States and the Zionist regime. Despite the efforts of the Western and Zionist media to accuse Iran, experts and political officials of various countries considered this action as a reserved right for the Islamic Republic of Iran in defense of its integrity.