Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi, emphasized on Monday that recent terrorist actions had forced Iran’s armed forces to take retaliatory steps, carrying out airstrikes on terrorist positions in northern Iraq. Ghasemi said the move is meant to deter further terrorist attacks.

Iran Press/Iran: Foreign ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi made the remarks in response to a question by Al-Jazeera correspondent on IRGC's recent missile attack on the headquarters of a gathering of terrorist commanders in the Kurdistan Regional Government on Saturday.

Related news: IRGC fires 7 missiles at terrorist's location in Iraqi Kurdistan

“It was not our desired choice and will never be our choice ,” Ghasemi said about the attack, while stressing that "terrorists' acts, especially the killing of Iranian border guards and soldiers, forced the Iranian armed forces to respond in retaliation and for deterrence purposes”, MNA reported.

He added that the strike was a "preemptive measure based on some credible intelligence."

Ghasemi expressed hope that the shared borders in this critical region would become the most secure and stable in the Middle East through collective measures taken by all parties.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced in an statement that the seven missiles have been fired to the base of the terrorists following a missile attack on the position and meeting of one of the terrorist groups on Saturday.

Based on credible and documented reports of the operation, the terrorist hotspot for the conspiracy against Iran's national security was destroyed and tens of leaders and key elements of the group's operations were killed and wounded.

The IRGC statement said that over the past month, foreign-backed terrorist groups have dispatched terrorist cells to Iranian territories with the aim of conducting acts of sabotage and undermining the security of the country.

Also, on 27th July, the top Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari poured scorn on  the enemies’ rhetoric of harsh military action against Iran, saying the foes have found it impossible to carry out their threats against the Islamic Republic.

In comments to a gathering of university students, the IRGC commander derided the threat of military strike against the Islamic Republic as “empty and idle”.

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“In the fortieth anniversary of (victory of) the Islamic Revolution, the threats and sanctions by the enemies have reached their peak, but the only threat they would not carry out is the military threat,” Major General Jafari added.

 

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