TEHRAN, Mar 7 – Iran will continue to defend itself if the “aggression from the American and Israeli side continues”, the Iranian ambassador to the UK has told the BBC.While Iran’s president on Saturday apologised to its Gulf neighbours and promised to stop attacks, Seyed Ali Mousavi told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg their policy remained to “defend themselves”.After days of strikes across the Middle East caused enormous disruption and damage in many different countries, Mousavi said that “if facilities or properties or bases are used against the Iranian nation”, they would be considered “legitimate targets”.In the last few hours, Gulf countries including Qatar and the UAE have been hit by Iran, while the US and Israel have continued their attacks as the war enters a second week.an exclusive interview with the BBC to be broadcast on Sunday, Mousavi was asked if Iran would stop its attacks on military bases outside Israel in other parts of the Middle East.He said there is “willingness from the Iranian side not to strike, not to attack our neighbours”.But he maintained that Iran had the right to continue striking targets across the whole region where there were military bases.Mousavi said Iran’s response “depends on the activities of the Americans and the Israeli regime”.“If the aggression… continues there is no doubt we will defend ourselves,” he said. “And if they want to use these military bases – although we don’t want to do that – there is no doubt we will defend ourselves accordingly.”It has been more than seven days since the US and Israel began strikes on Iran, which led Tehran to retaliate with its own attacks across the region.Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and Iraq have all been hit, as has an RAF base in Cyprus.