Iran launched ballistic missiles towards US bases across the Middle East on Monday evening, including US Central Command (CENTCOM)'s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, and Ain al-Asad Air Base in Iraq.
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his first comments since the American strikes on Sunday morning, said: "We didn't aggress anyone. And we will not accept any aggression from anyone under any circumstances, and we will not submit to anyone's harassment; this is the logic of the Iranian nation," in a post on X.
"We did not start the war, nor did we want it, but we will not leave any aggression against Iran unanswered," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also said in a statement.
"We will defend the security of this dear homeland with all our strength, and we will respond to every wound inflicted on Iran with faith, wisdom, and resolve," he added.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-controlled Fars News released a statement defending the attack, by referring to it as a reaction to "the blatant military aggression of the United States against the peaceful nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the clear violation of international law."
In the statement, the IRGC's Khatam al-Anbiya claimed responsibility for the missile launches, claiming to have hit Al Udeid Air Base.
By doing so, IRGC claimed to have delivered a clear and explicit message that "Iran will never leave any attack on its territorial integrity, sovereignty, and national security unanswered."
'The malice of the Zionists'
Fars News also referred to the US airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan as showing that "the malice of the Zionists is a continuation of the American plot."
IRGC launched missiles to "remind you that US military bases and mobile targets in the region are not points of power but rather major weaknesses and Achilles' heels for this warmongering regime."
"The will of the IRGC will ensure that the repeat of any mischief will expedite the collapse of US military power, their disgraceful retreat from the region, and the realization of the shared goal of the Islamic world and the free nations of the world in eliminating the Zionist cancer," the statement concluded.
"Today, we fight not for martyrdom, but for victory. The enemy must know that whenever they commit a crime, they will receive a decisive response, and this time will be no different," Iranian Army Chief, Maj.-Gen. Amir Hatami said.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran, relying on Almighty God, and the support of the noble and renowned people of Islamic Iran, will never leave any attack on its territorial integrity, sovereignty, and national security unanswered," an Iranian military spokesperson said, according to Iranian state media IRNA.
"If anyone attacks you, attack him in like manner," Iran's Supreme National Security Council stated.
The number of missiles launched towards the US in Monday's attack matched the number of bombs that the US dropped on Iran's nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, the statement claimed.
The missile attack posed to threat to "our friendly and brotherly country, Qatar, or it's noble people," they added.