TEHRAN, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres exchanged views on Iran's massive retaliatory military operation against Israel on Monday.

In a phone call on Monday night, the two sides also discussed the situation in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry early Tuesday.

Amir-Abdollahian said the Iranian armed forces' operation against the Israeli military was within the framework of the legitimate right to self-defense and international law.

He added that although Iran could carry out an operation with a wider radius, it targeted only those military positions from which Israel had carried out the deadly attack on the Iranian embassy in Syria.

Amir-Abdollahian appreciated Guterres's efforts to provide Palestinians with assistance, stressing that exercising its legitimate right to self-defense was Iran's sole option given the inefficiency of the UN Security Council and its refrainment from condemning the Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy.

The foreign minister stressed that the security of West Asia was very important to his nation, but Israel had been killing "innocent" women and children in Gaza while the United States and its Western allies did not stop it.

He expressed gratitude towards Guterres for his positive approach and efforts to end the war against Gaza and send humanitarian aid to the Palestinian coastal enclave as well as visiting twice the southern Gaza city of Rafah, adding Iran would welcome the UN chief's initiative to ensure sustainable security in the region.

With regard to Iran's military operation against Israel, Guterres called on all parties involved in the regional conflicts and disputes to continue exercising restraint.

The UN chief expressed satisfaction with Iran's position to stop further operations against Israel, saying, "We urge Israel not to take any retaliatory action in order to reduce tensions in the region in favor of establishing peace and prevent the spread of violence."

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said in two statements early Sunday that it had launched "tens of missiles and drones" and "successfully hit and destroyed" important military targets belonging to the Israeli army.

The attack was meant to retaliate the Israeli strike on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital city of Damascus on April 1, which killed seven Iranians, including two veteran commanders. Enditem

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