TEHRAN, April 14, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Iran's foreign minister on Sunday said Tehran had informed the United States and gave a 72-hour warning to neighbouring countries of its retaliatory attack on Israel.

"We announced... to the White House in a message that our operations will be limited, minimal and will be aimed at punishing the Israeli regime," said Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

The Iranian top diplomat was speaking during a briefing to foreign diplomats about Tehran's drone and missile attack on Israel in retaliation for an April 1 strike on Iran's Damascus consulate.

The Damascus strike levelled the five-storey consular annex of the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital and killed seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.

Tehran later vowed to avenge the strike which it blamed on Israel.

During Sunday's briefing, Amir-Abdollahian said Iran had informed neighbouring countries of its planned retaliatory attack "72 hours before the operation".

"We announced to our brothers and friends in the region, including the countries hosting American military bases, that our objective was only to punish the Israeli regime," he said.

"We are not seeking to target the American people or American bases in the region," he said, but warned that Iran could target US military positions involved in "defending and supporting" Israel.