FILE PHOTO: Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif looks on during a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow, Russia December 30, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran’s missile attacks on U.S. targets in Iraq on Wednesday were “legitimate self-defense”, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told state TV, adding that Washington’s assessment to retaliate should not be based on “illusions”.

“Our action was a legitimate self-defense and the United States should avoid assessing it based on illusions,” Zarif said.

Iran launched missile attacks on U.S.-led forces in Iraq in the early hours of Wednesday in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed Iran’s commander of Quds Force Qassem Soleimani.