This handout photo provided by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official website via SEPAH News on Nov 19, 2020 shows a warship named after slain Naval Commander Abdollah Roudaki sailing through the waters in the Gulf during it's inauguration. (SEPAH NEWS / IRAN'S REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS WEBSITE / AFP)
TEHRAN - Iran will give a "strong and massive" response to any Israeli submarine in the Gulf, an Iranian security official was quoted as saying by Press TV on Monday.
"Israel must know that our response to aggression against our national security will be strong and massive," said Abolfazl Amouei, the spokesman of the Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission.
Any risk for the Gulf security is "crossing Iran's redlines," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh stressed
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"Israel is looking for excuses to drag the region into a tension that creates chaos in the last days of (the US President Donald) Trump presidency," Amouei said.
He also warned neighboring Arab countries that bringing Israel too close to Iran's borders might create problems for them.
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On Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh also elaborated on the issue, describing the Washington Post's report as a "media assumption".
Any risk for the Gulf security is "crossing Iran's redlines," he stressed.
Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, urged foreign forces to leave the region, semi-official FARS news agency reported.
"Security in the region can only be achieved through the removal of external factors" which are against the stability of the region, Shamkhani was quoted as saying.
He said that "the recent US force's increased mobility in the region is a show of defiance and fear".
Earlier in the day, Khatibzadeh said that Iran has sent messages to the United States to avoid any new "adventurism" in the region.
"We have not been looking for a tension in the region and we are not," said Khatibzadeh, adding that "We will not hesitate to defend our country...We hope the wise in Washington will defuse tensions."
