TEHRAN, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that U.S. President Donald Trump has turned the "America First" slogan into "Israel First."
In a post on social media platform X, Araghchi made the remarks after Israel and the United States launched joint strikes earlier in the day on Tehran and other Iranian cities.
He said the war led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump against Iran was "wholly unprovoked, illegal, and illegitimate."
Araghchi said Iran's armed forces were prepared to respond. "Our powerful armed forces are prepared for this day and will teach the aggressors the lesson they deserve," he said.
On Saturday morning, Israel and the United States carried out strikes on Tehran and several other cities, including Tabriz, Qom, Isfahan, Kermanshah, and Karaj. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and U.S. bases in the region.
An Israeli airstrike hit a girls' elementary school in Minab, in Hormozgan province, killing at least 60 students and wounding 80 others, the official news agency IRNA reported. It said dozens of students remained trapped under rubble, and the toll could rise.
Condemning the strike, Araghchi said the school "was bombed in broad daylight, when packed with young pupils," adding that "these crimes against the Iranian people will not go unanswered." ■
