Iranian authorities have warned that they will not leave any "attack" or "threat" from the United States against the Islamic Republic "without a response." The message comes after the US Army's Central Command (CENTCOM) announced "in legitimate defense" operations on several targets in the Asian country on Tuesday night, following the crash of a military helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, an event that US President Donald Trump has described as a "downing."
"Despite their defeats on the battlefield, the United States decided to test our determination," said Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, in a message published on social media, in which he stated that the "powerful" Iranian Armed Forces "will not leave any attack or threat unanswered."
The head of Iranian diplomacy then recalled that "the history of the Persian Gulf" includes "numerous chapters about the terrible fate that foreign intruders have met," an allusion with which he urged Washington to leave the area.
"Leave our region, if you want to be safe," Araqchi stressed through the aforementioned social media post.
Moments after CENTCOM announced the start of attacks against Iran at 5:00 PM (Eastern Time, 11:00 PM Spanish peninsular time), presented as a response to the alleged "downing" of a US Army Apache helicopter, several Iranian media outlets have reported explosions in different parts of the territory.
Specifically, the Tasnim news agency, close to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, reported explosions in the province of Hormozgan, in the south of the country, as well as in the Sirik area and on Qeshm Island.