Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterates that the Islamic Republic has not foregone its right to respond to the Israeli regime’s most recent act of aggression, emphasizing that Tehran will decide when to carry out the retaliatory operation.

According to The Iran Project, he made the remarks on Tuesday as he addressed a conference of the commanders and personnel of the Command Headquarters of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran.

Asked by IRGC commanders about the timing of Operation True Promise III in response to the Israeli airstrikes against several Iranian military facilities late last month, Araghchi stated that the Foreign Ministry has clarified that the attacks amounted to a new act of aggression.

The top Iranian diplomat underscored that the Israeli aerial assault will be met with a response from Iran, saying, “We have not renounced our right to react [to Israel] and will show a reaction in due time and in a manner we deem appropriate.”

Araghchi said that the Foreign Ministry would never take knee-jerk decisions, saying Iran has already given a response after considering the overall conditions as well as probabilities and plots that may have been hatched against Iran, so that it could prevent the spillover of war.

“The response must be given ... and we should not allow the enemy to come to the conclusion that it will be able to hit Iran without receiving any reaction,” Araghchi told the IRGC commanders.