TEHRAN

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Sunday said Tehran had informed regional countries about its overnight attack on Israel 72 hours in advance. 

"We informed the countries in the region 72 hours before the attack about the nature of the attack and that it was limited and retaliatory," Amir-Abdollahian told a meeting with foreign ambassadors in Tehran.

Describing the attack as "self-defense," he said his country's armed forced targeted an Israeli military base "with correct calculations," and no civilian points were targeted.

The top diplomat went on to claim that the base in question was used by Israeli F-35s "which participated in the attack on the consulate building in Damascus" earlier this month.

"We announced to our brothers and friends in the region where America's military bases are located, that our aim in legitimate defense is only to punish the Israeli regime, and that we do not target Americans and their bases in the region," he added.

Expressing that the US was also informed of the attack, he warned that if Washington uses the territory of some countries to defend and support Israel, the US military base in the country concerned will then "inevitably be targeted."

Iran launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Israel late on Saturday in response to the April 1 attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus that killed several military commanders.

*Writing by Burc Eruygur in Istanbul