US disputes Iran intended to give forewarning on attacking Israel

The United States on Sunday condemned claims that Iran had warned other countries in the region that it would carry out major airstrikes against the country on Saturday.

A senior Iranian government official said at a press conference on Sunday that Iran did not warn other countries in the region that it would attack Israel on Saturday. Asked to confirm the claim that Iran had issued a 72-hour warning about the attack, the official said it was “absolutely not true.”

“They haven’t given us any notice, they haven’t given us any sense that they’re going to be a target, so evacuate them. They were clearly trying to destroy and cause casualties. “Given the fact that that was their intention and they didn’t do that, they may now want to say, ‘Well, there was no need to do that,'” the official said.

Iran launched a wave of drone and missile attacks against Israel on Saturday, most of which were thwarted overnight with U.S. military support. Iran said the attack was a response to an attack earlier this month that killed a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps at the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian said in a video conference on Sunday that the country had given regional allies and neighbors 72 hours’ notice of the attack. wall street journal report.

The official said that was not true, pointing out that Iran’s goal was to harm Israel.

“So, no, there was no such notice. They were very clear that they would respond and it was clear that it was going to happen. The level and scope of it was discussed throughout the week. ,” the official said.

“But no, there was no such thing as a warning as a way to launch a missile, but somehow it didn’t hurt anyone. That’s not… that wasn’t their intention.” he said.

The White House warned last week that Iran was expected to launch retaliatory attacks against Israel in response to the April 1 attack on the Syrian embassy. President Biden warned Friday that an attack by Iran is likely to occur “sooner rather than later.”