Iran’s permanent mission to the UN has denied that Tehran played any role in the drone attack that targeted the home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, which caused no casualties.
“We reject the baseless allegations made by the Zionist regime regarding Iran’s involvement,” the mission said, according to Tehran Times.
Iran’s mission said Hezbollah was behind the attack, but so far, the Lebanese group has not taken responsibility. “We have already responded to the regime’s previous crimes, and this action was taken by the Lebanese Hezbollah,” the Iranian mission said.
The denial from Iran comes as Israeli officials are pointing the finger at Tehran for the attack and calling for a response. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz rejected the denial, calling Iran’s statement “lies.”
“The primary proxy, the tentacle Iran created, funded, armed, trained, and now controls in all its operations, is suddenly portrayed as an independent entity,” Katz wrote on X. “Your lies and false pretenses won’t help you — you are responsible.”
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the drone attack on Netanyahu’s home could give Israel “greater legitimacy for a wider range of targets” in its expected attack on Iranian territory. Israel has been preparing to strike Iran in retaliation for the October 1 Iranian missile barrage that was fired into Israel, which came in response to a series of Israeli escalations in the region.
US and Israeli officials believe the planned Israeli attack on Iran, which is expected to happen before the US presidential election on November 5, will likely provoke a major regional war. Iran is warning that it will respond to any kind of Israeli attack on its territory.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that Iran had already picked targets it will strike in response to an Israeli attack. “Any attack on Iran is considered crossing red lines, and we will not let it go unanswered,” he said.
