A top Iranian military leader warned on Monday that Iran is plotting strikes outside of its own borders and will even go "beyond the seas" to carry out attacks on those it perceives as enemies, statements that further highlight Iran's clandestine operations inside the United States and in Europe.
"We warn the enemies of the Islamic Revolution that if they make an aggression against the Islamic Iran, we will chase and punish them not only outside the borders but also beyond the seas," General Yahya Rahim Safavi, a top aide to Iran's Supreme Leader, was quoted as saying on Monday in remarks in Tehran.
The comments come just days after Iran's Revolution Guard Corps, or IRGC, launched a missile strike in Iraq's Kurdistan region. Iran has promised further strikes in that country.
Safavi's rhetoric also comes on the heels of the arrest of two Iranians in the United States who were accused of plotting terror attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets. U.S. officials have warned that Iran's spy operations expand far beyond its borders and that the Islamic Republic has the capability of launching terror strikes across the region and even the globe.
Iran confirmed its airstrikes in Iraq during the weekend.
"The IRGC Aerospace Force's missile unit in cooperation with the IRGC Ground Force's drone unit targeted the headquarters and a meeting of the leaders of a filthy and criminal grouplet and a center for training affiliated terrorists with 7 short-range ground-to-ground missiles yesterday (Saturday)," the IRGC said in a statement carried in Iran's state-controlled press.