Iran says Israel seeks to expand war to other regional countries

TEHRAN -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday Israel seeks to expand the war to other countries in the West Asia region.

He made the remarks at a weekly press conference while condemning the ongoing Israeli "aggression" against Iran, which has started since early Friday.

Baghaei said, "We have no doubt that Israel wishes to fan the flames of the war as much as it can and spread the flames to other countries and players in the region," adding that Israel had attacked residential buildings in Iran and a children's hospital in Tehran.

He stressed that Iran's nuclear program was merely a pretext for Israel as no evidence was available indicating a diversion from the "peaceful path" in Iran's nuclear program.

The Iranian spokesman also slammed the US government and policymakers for their positions on the Israeli attacks, stressing that such stances made Iran more certain that they were part of Israel's "lawbreaking and aggression."

Israel has since early Friday launched airstrikes on the Iranian capital Tehran and other areas across the country, killing a number of Iran's top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.

In response, Iran has since Friday night launched a series of missile and drone strikes on different targets in Israel, inflicting casualties and heavy damages.