Iran’s foreign minister says Tehran’s missile and drone strikes are retaliation for the US launching attacks from the territory of regional allies.

Speaking to CBS News, Abbas Araghchi says countries that host American forces are being drawn into the conflict because their land is being used to strike Iran. He says Tehran is hitting “American assets, American installations and American military bases”.

Araghchi presents the strikes as directed at US-linked targets rather than the host nations themselves. He says Iran cannot simply stand by while American forces attack from those locations.

The comments come more than a fortnight into the conflict, during which Iran has launched attacks on neighbouring states.

Araghchi also says the Strait of Hormuz is not fully shut. In the CBS interview, he says Iranian forces are allowing ships from other countries to pass safely, and claims vessels are avoiding the route because of insecurity created by “the aggression by the US”.