National Security Chief Says Iran Not Relying On East Or West

Iran’s national security chief says the Tehran protects its interests both on the battlefield as well as in diplomatic arenas, not relying on East or West.

The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Shamkhani, said in a tweet on Sunday evening that “The battlefield and Diplomacy -- as two components of Iran's power -- are used proportionally and judiciously to protect our security and national interests”.

“Forty years of experience has taught our people that relying on Western or Eastern powers will neither guarantee our rights nor our security”, he added.

Shamkhani made the remarks amid a major escalation of tensions in the Middle East Iran launched a dozen ballistic missiles at Erbil on Sunday and Russia has thrown a wrench in the Vienna talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Some media and politicians in Iran continue criticizing Russia for “obstructing” the nuclear talks in Vienna while hardline newspapers defend Russia's aggression against Ukraine and tend to minimize the impact of Moscow's demand for exemption from Ukraine sanctions on Iran's nuclear deal with the West.

The missiles landed near the US consulate's new building and the neighboring residential area in Iraq's northern Kurdish regional capital of Erbil but caused only material damage and one civilian was injured.

In a statement on Sunday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards took responsibility for the missile attacks, saying Israeli "strategic centers" were the target of the attack.