Iran says any US attack including limited strikes would be 'act of aggression'

TEHRAN: Iran said Monday that any US attack, including limited strikes, would be an “act of aggression” that would precipitate a response, after President Donald Trump said he was considering a limited strike on Iran.

“With respect to your first question concerning the limited strike, I think there is no limited strike,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a briefing in Tehran attended by an AFP journalist.

“An act of aggression would be regarded as an act of aggression. Period. And any state would react to an act of aggression as part of its inherent right of self-defence ferociously so that’s what we would do.”

Trump said Friday he was considering a limited strike if Tehran did not reach a deal with the United States.

“I guess I can say I am considering that,” he replied following a question from reporters.

The two countries concluded a second round of indirect talks in Switzerland on Tuesday under Omani mediation, against the backdrop of a major US military build-up in the region.

Further talks, confirmed by Iran and Oman but not by the United States, are scheduled for Thursday.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is leading the negotiations for Iran, while the United States is represented by envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Trump is wondering why Iran has not “capitulated” in the face of Washington’s military deployment, Witkoff said in an interview with Fox News broadcast on Sunday.

Baqaei responded Monday by saying that Iranians had never capitulated at any point in their history.