There could be further strikes on Iraq after last night's air raids around Baghdad, according to the British Secretary of Defence Mr Geoff Hoon.
British and American warplanes hit radar installations used to control Iraq's air defences in the first attacks by allied aircraft on targets outside the no-fly zones for two years, according to military reports.
Mr Hoon today insisted it had been a specific operation to deal with the recent upsurge in Iraqi air defence activity against British and US jets patrolling the southern no-fly zone.
But he also made clear that the two nations were prepared to take further action to deal with any further Iraqi aggression.
"We have been involved in the past because of Iraq's aggression against Kuwait - a perfectly lawful neighbour - and obviously we must always have regard to the threat that Saddam Hussein's regime poses to the region," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
His comments underlined the warning issued in the immediate aftermath of the raids by US President George W Bush that the allies would be monitoring Iraq's efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
Irish politicians condemned the action last night. Mr John Gormley of the Green Party joined Mr Niall Andrews of Fianna Fail and Labour Defence spokesman Mr Michael D Higgins in criticising the attack.
Fine Gael's new Foreign Affairs spokesman Mr Jim O'Keefe told The Irish Timesthat the British and US must explain their actions.
The Workers' Party President Seán Garland described the attack as a "sickening reminder of the hypocrisy of the US and British government on the question of human rights and respect for international law".
The Iraqi regime was today defiant. A government statement carried on Iraqi television said: "We will fight them in the air, land and sea and their aggression will achieve nothing but failure."
The British Ministry of Defence said that six Iraqi positions were attacked - five of them outside the southern no-fly zone - although the allied aircraft, firing long range "stand-off" missiles, did not cross the 33rd parallel which marks the zone's northern limit.
Although the allies say there were no civilian targets, Iraqi television said there were a number of casualties, showing pictures of wounded women and children. Local reports indicated two civilians were killed and more than 20 injured.
Britain and the US said the operation had been necessary because of the increased intensity and sophistication of the Iraqi air defence activity since the start of the year.
PA