Iran threatened to retaliate after its ambassador was wounded in a wave of explosions that targeted pagers and other wireless devices in Lebanon, fanning fears of a new wave of tit-for-tat violence in the Middle East.
Iran “reserves its rights under international law to take required measures deemed necessary to respond to such a heinous crime and violation,” United Nations Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani wrote in a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council.
He said Guterres and the council must “condemn unequivocally Israel’s terrorist action.” Israel hasn’t confirmed or denied responsibility for the blasts, which killed 26 people over two days and wounded Iranian Ambassador Mojtaba Amini as well as over 3,000 people.
On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced what he called a “new phase” in the war with regional militant groups and said troops would be diverted to the Lebanese border.
In the letter, Iravani called the attack a flagrant violation of the basic principles and the rules of international law.”
