Tehran, March 21 – Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has stressed that the recent attacks on parts of Turkey and Oman were not carried out by the Iranian armed forces or its allies.
He made the remarks in a message to extend congratulations on the arrival of Eid-ul-Fitr on Friday (local time), which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, and Nowruz, the beginning of the Iranian new year that falls on March 21, according to a statement published on his website.
Khamenei said Iran has appropriate relations with both Turkey and Oman, warning about Israel's "deception" of resorting to "false flag" operations to cause division between Iran and its neighbors, reports Xinhua news agency.
He added that such operations may be carried out in other countries too.
He highlighted the importance the country attaches to its relations with neighbors, and called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to establish better relations with each other, voicing his readiness to take the necessary measures to that end.
The Iranian leader also emphasised the need to enhance citizens' living standards and the nation's infrastructure, with a focus on welfare and wealth creation for the public, while declaring the new year as the "year of resistance economy in light of national unity."
Meanwhile, earlier on Wednesday, NATO deployed an additional Patriot air defence system to the southern Adana province of Turkey, the Turkish Defence Ministry said, after a ballistic missile fired from Iran toward Turkish airspace was intercepted last week.
"In addition to the measures taken at the national level to ensure the security of our airspace and our citizens, a further Patriot system, deployed by Allied Air Command in Ramstein, Germany, is being stationed in Adana, supplementing the existing Spanish Patriot system already based there," Turkish Defence Ministry Spokesperson Rear Admiral Zeki Akturk said at a press briefing.
Akturk said a missile launched from Iran on March 13 entered Turkish airspace, which was neutralised over the eastern Mediterranean by NATO air and missile defence units.
On February 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then-supreme leader, along with senior military commanders and civilians.
Iran responded by launching waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and US bases and assets in the Middle East.