Irans Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has downplayed the Israeli regimes military threats against the country, saying Iran will respond to any misdeed by the Tel Aviv regime in the shortest possible time.
As reiterated by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Iran has great military capabilities, Vahidi told reporters on Thursday on the sidelines of a ceremony on the occasion of the National Army Day.
The constant threats by the Zionist regime (Israel) against Iran are so worthless and they cannot do anything against our nation because they know that any measure will lead them to full annihilation, the Iranian minister pointed out.
We dont think that the Zionist regime will take such an unwise action to commit suicide, Vahidi added.
In his message on the occasion of Nowruz (Persian New Year) on March 21, Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran would raze Tel Aviv to the ground if Israel carried out a military strike against the Islamic Republic.
Israels leaders sometimes threaten Iran, but they know that if they do a damn thing, the Islamic Republic will raze Tel Aviv and [the occupied city of] Haifa to the ground, the Leader stated.
Vahidi made the remarks after Israels Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Benny Gantz repeated the regimes warmongering rhetoric against Iran on Tuesday.
"We have our plans and forecasts... If the time comes we'll decide" on whether to take military action against Iran, Gantz said.
Similar remarks were made by other Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister for Military Affairs Moshe Ya'alon.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu said that US-engineered sanctions against Iran over its nuclear energy program might not be enough.
The US, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program with the Israeli regime repeatedly threatening to attack Iran's nuclear facilities based on the unfounded allegation.
Iran argues that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has every right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Unlike Iran, Israel, which is widely believed to possess between 200 to 400 nuclear warheads, is a non-signatory to the NPT and continues to defy international calls to join the treaty.