Tough warning from Tehran to Europe: “Countries that think they can stay out of the conflict are deeply mistaken”

An Iranian official has warned the international community that the current crisis in the region has high “contagious” potential and will not remain geographically limited.

“The world is not blind; everyone sees this, and those who choose to turn a blind eye or pretend not to know will suffer the consequences,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said at a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday, according to exiled Iranian website Iran International.

At the same conference, Iran directly warned the major European powers not to get involved in its conflict with Israel and the United States. The reaction comes after Germany, Britain and France said they could take “defensive measures” to neutralize Iran's missile-launching capabilities, the international Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat also writes.

“It would be an act of war. Any such action against Iran would be considered complicity with the aggressors and an act of war directly against us,” Baghaei pointed out, when asked about the position of the three European states.

Baghaei also said instability could soon affect the entire world, stressing that countries that think they can stay out of the conflict are “deeply mistaken.” He explained that the escalation is caused by the transformation of the region into a theater of military operations, rejecting the idea that Iran wants insecurity in the area.

“Undermining regional security is Israel's project into which, unfortunately, the United States has also been dragged,” accused the Iranian MFA spokesman.

The conflict erupted on Saturday, February 28, with the launch of a massive operation by the United States and Israel against targets in Iran, and President Donald Trump estimated on Monday that the military intervention could last four to five weeks.