TEHRAN, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has said Iran reserves the right to respond to Israel's "criminal aggression" against the country.
He made the remarks in a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Pascale Christine Baeriswyl, the president of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for October, and other council members, one day after Israel launched an attack against military targets in Iran, according to a statement released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Sunday.
Araghchi noted that although "a major part of (Israel's) fired projectiles were tracked and intercepted by Iran's air defense systems, the aggressive action inflicted damage to the targeted points and, more importantly, led to the martyrdom of four members of the Iranian armed forces."
He also called for an emergency UNSC meeting to adopt a "decisive" stance condemning Israel's "aggression" against Iran.
He strongly condemned the Israeli military action as a flagrant violation of Iran's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and international law.
He emphasized that Israel's "aggressive" act was perpetrated as it continues "genocide in Gaza and warmongering in Lebanon," posing a serious threat to international peace and security and contributing to further instability in the West Asia region.
The Israel Defense Forces announced early Saturday that it conducted "precise and targeted" airstrikes on targets in Iran in response to recent attacks from the country. Iran's air defense headquarters claimed it successfully countered the Israeli attack, resulting in only "limited damage."