Strictly Warns Israel, President Raisi: No Matter How Small The Action Against Iran, We Will Retaliate To The Heart Of The Zionist Regime

Presiden Iran Ebrahim Raisi. (Wikimedia Commons / Mehr News Agency / Maryam Kamyab)

JAKARTA - Iran's armed forces will target Israel's heartland if it makes "the slightest move" against them, President Ebrahim Raisi said at a military parade on Monday, amid stalled talks between Tehran and world powers to revive the 2015 nuclear pact.

Israel, which is widely believed to possess the only atomic weapon in the Middle East, has said it will not be bound by the Iran nuclear deal and could eventually take unilateral action against Iran's nuclear sites.

"The Zionist regime (Israel), you should know that, if you take the slightest action against our nation, our armed forces will target the heart of the Zionist regime," President Raisi said in a televised address at a military parade to mark National Army Day, citing Reuters, April 18.

Troops lined up in front of the podium where President Raisi stood with military officers. Helicopters flew overhead and paratroopers fell over the parade area near the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic state.

Missiles, armored personnel carriers, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, and small submarines were also part of the parade.

Iran accuses Israel of carrying out several attacks on facilities linked to the program and of killing Iranian nuclear scientists. Israel has neither denied nor confirmed the allegations. In addition, Israel, which refuses to be recognized by the Islamic Republic, said it would not accept the Islamic Republic as a "nuclear threshold state".

The United States and Iran have been in indirect talks for more than a year to save the pact. Washington abandoned it in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

Iran has reacted by violating the deal's limits on its nuclear program. Under the deal, Iran curtailed its nuclear efforts in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

However, the talks were suspended last month due to the unresolved issue of whether the United States would remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the US list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, as requested by Tehran.

"Our strategy is defense and not offense," Raisi stressed, adding "the Iranian army is using the sanctions opportunity very well to empower itself, and our military industry is now at its best."