Iran FM Reiterates Israel Retaliation Warning

FILE PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi looks on as he meets with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon, October 4, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi looks on as he meets with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon, October 4, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
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Iran FM Reiterates Israel Retaliation Warning

FILE PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi looks on as he meets with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon, October 4, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi looks on as he meets with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon, October 4, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

Tehran will not hesitate to take "stronger defensive actions" if Israel retaliates for last week's missile attack by Tehran, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday.
Iran is "fully prepared to take stronger defensive actions, if necessary, in response to any further aggression, and will not hesitate to do so," Araqchi said in a letter to other foreign ministers, according to a ministry post on X.
Israel has repeatedly said it will respond to Iran's missile attack on Oct. 1, launched in retaliation for Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Gaza and the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran.
Araqchi said in his letter that Iran’s missile attack on Israel had been in accordance with its right to self-defense under international law and followed much restraint as it sought a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said Israel will hit Iran in a way that will be "lethal, precise and surprising.”



Iran Ministry Protests over Arrests in US of its Nationals

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
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Iran Ministry Protests over Arrests in US of its Nationals

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Iran has summoned the Swiss ambassador in Tehran, who represents US interests in the country, and a senior Italian diplomat over the arrest by the US of two Iranian nationals this week, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

US prosecutors charged the two men on Monday with illegally exporting sensitive technology to Iran that they said was used in a January drone attack in Jordan that killed three US service members, Reuters reported.

The US blamed Iran-backed militants for the attack. Iran said at the time it was not involved.

Federal prosecutors in Boston identified the men as Mohammad Abedini, the co-founder of an Iranian-based company, and Mahdi Sadeghi, an employee of Massachusetts-based semiconductor manufacturer Analog Devices.

Abedini, a resident of both Switzerland and Iran, was arrested in Italy at the request of the US government. Sadeghi, an Iranian-born naturalized US citizen, lives in Natick, Massachusetts.

“We consider these arrests in violation of international law,” Iranian media quoted the foreign ministry as saying, adding that the Swiss ambassador and the Italian charge d'affaires were asked to pass on Iran’s protest.