Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a top military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said Iran had prepared to launch retaliatory strikes on three sites in Ukraine but called off the operation after Kyiv apologized.
Rezaei said Iran's armed forces had completed preparations for the strikes on Ukraine before the operation was called off. He said: "Ukrayna'nın üç bölgesine saldırı hazırlığı içindeydik" (We were preparing to attack three regions of Ukraine).
Rezaei said: "sonra 'yanlışlık oldu' dediler ve konuyu araştırmak için saldırıyı durdurduk" (then they said 'a mistake happened' and we stopped the attack to investigate). He added that the investigation into the incident is continuing and the necessary steps will be taken.
Iran accused Ukraine on July 25 of attacking an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, killing one crew member. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha that Kyiv should compensate Tehran for the damage caused by the attack.
Rezaei also made remarks about the Strait of Hormuz, saying Iran would not allow any maritime route through the strait outside Iran's designated route. He said: "Hürmüz Boğazı'nda İran'ın güzergahı dışında hiçbir güzergahın açılmasına kesinlikle izin vermeyeceğiz" (We will absolutely not allow any route other than Iran's route to be opened in the Strait of Hormuz).
Rezaei said that if the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues, American warships will be put at risk. He said US warships would be directly targeted if they were brought to the southern route of the strait, and any hostile naval vessel attempting to use an illegal route would be targeted.
Rezaei said Iran had inflicted heavy losses on US forces during the recent 17-day conflict, and that Iranian missile and drone attacks had thwarted Washington's military objectives.
The US and Israel launched attacks on Iran in February, triggering retaliatory strikes by Tehran targeting several countries across the region. Tensions have escalated across the Middle East since then. The US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire in April and signed a Pakistan-mediated memorandum of understanding in June aimed at ending their military conflict and reaching a lasting peace agreement, but the agreement collapsed last month, with the US and Iran exchanging attacks for nearly two weeks.
Rezaei made the remarks in an interview with Iranian state television.
