Iran Calls EU Statement on Its Retaliation a ‘Masterclass in Selective Outrage’

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei launched a sharp public rebuke of the European Union on Monday, describing the bloc’s condemnation of Iran’s retaliatory military operations against US forces as fundamentally hypocritical and legally baseless.

In a post on X, Baghaei wrote: “The EU’s statement blaming Iran for exercising its right to self-defense against US aggression launched from bases in neighboring countries is a masterclass in selective moral outrage; it is hypocritical and reckless.”

He called on the EU to honour the legal principles it has long publicly championed, urging it to avoid “appeasing aggressors while blaming those who respond to unlawful attacks.”

Iran’s Legal Argument: Article 51 and State Responsibility

Baghaei grounded Iran’s position firmly in international law, stating: “Iran’s strikes against those bases and assets that are used to launch unlawful attacks against Iran are a lawful exercise of self-defense.”

He further invoked the principle of state responsibility, adding: “States have an established legal obligation not to allow their territory or assets to be used for invading other countries.” Iran has consistently maintained that Arab nations hosting US military installations bear direct responsibility for facilitating attacks on Iranian soil, and that under Article 51 of the UN Charter, those bases constitute legitimate targets for Iranian self-defence operations.

The Trigger: IRGC Drone Shootdown and CENTCOM Retaliation

The immediate flashpoint was the IRGC’s announcement on Sunday that its air defence units had detected and shot down a US MQ-1 Predator drone after it entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf. The IRGC described the aircraft as belonging to the “aggressor US military.”

The United States Central Command subsequently confirmed that it had conducted what it termed “self-defense strikes” over the weekend, targeting Iranian radar installations and drone command-and-control facilities in the city of Goruk and on Qeshm Island. “The measured and deliberate strikes occurred on Saturday and Sunday,” CENTCOM said, citing what it described as “aggressive Iranian actions” involving the shootdown of a drone operating over international waters.

EU’s Position and Iran’s Response

The EU’s diplomatic service had claimed that Iranian strikes violate the sovereignty of Arab states in the region and “pose a serious threat to regional security and stability.” Tehran rejected that framing outright, arguing that the EU was shielding Washington while penalising the nation responding to aggression.

The broader conflict traces back to February 28, when US-Israeli airstrikes killed senior Iranian officials and commanders. Iran responded with sustained daily missile and drone operations targeting Israeli-occupied territories and US military positions across the region, and closed the Strait of Hormuz — a move that triggered a sharp spike in global oil prices.