Iran vows payback for US strikes but leaves door to diplomacy open

Tehran accuses Washington of 'betraying' diplomatic trust

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at a press conference in Istanbul. Reuters

Iran has vowed to respond to US strikes on its nuclear sites but signalled on Sunday it is not shutting the door on diplomacy.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking at an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) in Istanbul, accused Washington of “betraying diplomacy” by enabling Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, then launching direct strikes of its own.

“They crossed a very big red line,” Mr Araghchi said. “I don’t know how much space is left for diplomacy. We are now assessing the damage but my country has been attacked – and we will respond.”

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Despite the warning, Mr Araghchi said Iran remained open to negotiations: “The door to diplomacy must remain open."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian took part in a protest in Tehran to denounce the US strikes. An aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meanwhile warned that any Middle East base used to strike Iran could be a target for retaliation.

"Any country in the region or elsewhere that is used by American forces to strike Iran will be considered a legitimate target," Ali Akbar Velayati said. The Pentagon said no such bases were used in Sunday's strikes as bombers took off from the US mainland.

The US has signalled that its military operation is complete. Officials in Washington have portrayed the strikes as limited, aimed at containing Iran’s nuclear programme, not toppling the regime.

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It marked a dramatic turn after days of debate over whether the Donald Trump administration would join the Israel-Iran conflict directly.

Tehran, however, sees the strikes as a co-ordinated escalation. Mr Araghchi said the US had given Israel the “green light” to launch its initial attacks, and then followed up with its own, breaking any diplomatic trust that remained.

'Regrettable consequences'

For its part, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced it would continue “Operation True Promise 3”, a retaliatory campaign it claims has already involved 20 waves of strikes on Israeli targets.

“In response to this aggression and crime, Operation True Promise 3 will continue in a precise, focused and devastating manner, targeting the regime's infrastructure, strategic centres and interests,” an IRGC statement read.

It warned that US military bases across the region are now "liabilities". The statement added: “The aggression by the terrorist US regime has opened the path to responses that go beyond the delusional calculations of the aggressor front. The invaders of this land should expect regrettable consequences."

At least nine members of the IRGC were killed on Sunday in Israeli attacks on central Iran, local media reported. Attacks on two military centres in the city of Yazd killed seven IRGC personnel and two conscripts, the Tasnim news agency said. Blasts were also heard on Sunday in Tehran, as fighting between Israel and Iran continued for a 10th day.

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The strikes have raised fears of wider escalation across the Middle East. Iran has long threatened to target US military assets or close the strategic Strait of Hormuz if attacked directly.

While Tehran’s network of regional proxy groups has been weakened in recent years, officials suggest that channel remains a possible avenue for retaliation.

Mr Araghchi said Tehran is evaluating its response options but suggested Iran would not rush into an all-out conflict.

The developments come amid rising global concern over the potential collapse of the nuclear non-proliferation framework and the further destabilisation of a region already strained by a number of crises.