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Iranian officials say they are set to 'confront any threat' and won't allow the nation's borders to be 'violated' by the U.S. after they downed a U.S. drone Thursday.
Iran officials say they will “confront any threat” made by the United States in its territory.
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Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Saturday during a press conference in Tehran. The remarks come after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed he ordered the military to back down from firing missiles at Iranian targets that was said to be scheduled for 2:00 a.m. Friday.
"Regardless of any decision (Washington officials) make ... we will not allow any of Iran's borders to be violated. Iran will firmly face any aggression or threat from the United States," Mousavi told the press.
The foreign minister representative said that Iran’s decisions will not be reactionary toward U.S. rhetoric and policy regarding the nation.
"Our decisions do not hinge on their decisions and will confront any incursion, whether or not it comes with threats," he added.
On Thursday, an Iranian missile shot down a Hawk Global U.S. surveillance drone that was traveling over the Strait of Hormuz in Iranian territory. Washington still insists its drone was in international airspace.
A Revolutionary Guard commander reaffirmed Mousavi’s comments saying the military will take the same actions on any future incursions in its region.
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"This is our response to a violation of the Iranian space and if the violation is repeated, then our response will be repeated," Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the aerospace division of the guard said Saturday.
Thursday night's drone incident opened a new chapter in aggressive U.S. policy against Iran, which already included reinstalling economic sanctions and Trump pulling out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal over a year ago.
The Trump administration also immediately blamed Iran, without evidence, for the explosions of two oil tankers in the Oman Sea last week.
While showing the press parts of the downed U.S. drone, Shekarchi said, "any mistake by Iran's enemies, particularly the United States and its regional allies, would be like shooting at a powder keg that will burn the United States, its interests and its allies."
The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned a diplomatic representative from the United Arab Emirates Saturday because the drone was launched from a U.S. military base in its territory, according to Reuters.
Iran has threatened to break the nuclear agreement if European signatories fail to save it by protecting Tehran from US sanctions. On Friday French President Emmanuel Macron said frictions between the U.S. and Iran must be avoided.
"Everything possible must be done so that there is no escalation of tensions," Macron told journalists after an EU summit Friday in Brussels. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said diplomacy was necessary to descalate “a very tense” scenario in the region.
“Of course, we are concerned about the situation and we are banking on diplomatic negotiations, on a political solution, to a very tense situation."
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