US condemns Iran's strikes in Pakistan, Iraq, Syria

WASHINGTON

The US on Wednesday condemned recent strikes by Iran in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria and accused Tehran of violating the sovereign borders of its neighbors.

“We've seen Iran violate the sovereign borders of three of its neighbors in just the past couple of days," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the target of the strikes in Pakistan was Jaish al-Adl, which Tehran calls a "terrorist group".

He defended the strikes and said they were “in line with combating terrorism and legitimate self-defense.”

Miller responded and said: "I think it is a little rich for on one hand, Iran to be the leading funder of terrorism in the region, the leading funder of instability in the region, and on the other hand, claim that it needs to take this action these actions to counterterrorism."

He noted that the only reason US forces are in Iraq is at the invitation of the Iraqi government.

"And you've seen us take action against the Houthis, which we have done as part of an international coalition and after a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the Houthis for their attacks on commercial shipping," he said.