Borrell: The EU knew in advance about Iran’s retaliatory attack on Israel

The European Union knew in advance about the expected retaliatory strike by Iran against Israel; the EU had received a prior notification on this a few days before. High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said this.

“We had been warned of this a few days before the strike,” Borrell said in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde, answering the question whether Iran’s retaliatory strike was a surprise for the EU. He did not specify, however, how the EU authorities received information about the preparation of the attack.

According to Borrell, after the attack on Israel, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told him that Iran had struck exclusively “military targets” and made it clear that it was a “controlled response”.

He noted that if Tehran had really wanted to do serious damage, it would not have sent drones toward Israel, which took about six hours to reach their targets. “This in no way justifies this attack or plays down its significance,” he added.

Earlier, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran Nasser Kanaani said his country does not want to heighten tensions in the Middle East, but intends to respond to “any illegal and irrational actions” against Tehran.