DUBAI, March 19 (Reuters) – Iran’s foreign minister called for vigilance and regional coordination in separate calls with counterparts in Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan as the military warned of a tougher response to any further attacks on its energy infrastructure, state media reported on Thursday.
After its energy facilities in South Pars gas field and Asaluyeh were targeted on Wednesday, Iran retaliated against what it said were U.S.-linked energy sites in Gulf countries, including Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar, the world’s largest LNG complex.
“In the calls to foreign counterparts, Araqchi assessed the U.S. and Zionist regime’s (Israel) attack on Iranian infrastructure as an act aimed at escalating tensions and destabilising the region, and urged for vigilance and coordination among regional countries in response to these threats,” state media reported on Thursday.
A spokesman for the unified command of Iran’s armed forces said recent strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure led to “a new stage in the war” in which Iran targeted energy facilities linked to the U.S. and American investors in the region.
“If strikes (on Iran’s energy infrastructure) happen again, further attacks on your energy infrastructure and that of your allies will not stop until it is completely destroyed, and our response will be much more severe,” Ebrahim Zolfaqari said according to state media.
(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Alison Williams, Alexandra Hudson)
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