TEHRAN, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Thursday rejected anti-Tehran claims by finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7), according to a statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
G7 finance ministers and central bank governors on Wednesday issued a joint statement condemning Iran's retaliatory military operation late last week on Israel, saying they would step up sanctions against Tehran and "ensure close coordination of any future measure to diminish Iran's ability to acquire, produce, or transfer weapons to support destabilizing regional activities."
Kanaani said such positions and claims were based on "double standard and contradictory" criteria, behavior and approaches, adding that Iran rejected and condemned them.
He regretted that some Western countries adopted a passive approach towards Israel's recent deadly attack against Iran's consulate in Syria, which was a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter and international conventions.
Kanaani blamed Israel's decades-long "occupation of Palestine and its crimes in the Palestinian territories" as the main roots of the crisis and instability in West Asia, urging the United States, the European Union, and the G7 countries to stand against Israel's "aggressions," instead of hurling accusations against others.
Kanaani said while continuing to be responsible towards regional and international peace and security and abiding by international rules and regulations, Iran would not hesitate to give a "decisive, regret-inducing and deterrent" response to aggressors to defend its security and national interests.
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said in two separate statements early Sunday that it had launched a combined missile and drone attack against Israel and "successfully hit and destroyed" important Israeli military targets.
The attack was in response to an Israeli strike against Iran's consulate in Syria, which killed seven Iranians, including two veteran commanders. ■
