Iran ready to counter any malicious US, Israeli moves: Defense minister

Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan says the Iranian Armed Forces always stand ready to respond to any malicious moves by the US and the Israeli regime.

The Islamic Republic of Iran will continue to “boost its defense capability” and is prepared to respond to any mischievous acts by Washington and Tel Aviv, Dehqan said on Saturday. 

He said the preparedness of the Iranian Armed Forces is based on its defense doctrine and the need to counter threats and also in line with its policy to support the anti-Israeli resistance movement in all fields.

He made the remarks in response to statements made by Israel's Minister of Military Affairs Moshe Ya'alon and US Defense Minister Ashton Carter regarding a nuclear agreement reached between Iran and six world powers in mid-July and the possibility of a military action against the Islamic Republic in case of Iran’s alleged non-compliance with the agreement.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Washington on October 28, Carter claimed that the agreement between Iran and the P5+1 countries removed “just one source of uncertainty and risk.” 

He said that Iran must comply with the agreement or face a military threat from the United States, adding that he is under instructions from US President Barack Obama to “make sure the military option remains intact.”

Ya'alon also said that the agreement could keep Iran’s nuclear program at bay for as much as 15 years and warned about what he called a potential Iranian nuclear threat after that period.  

The Iranian defense minister said such remarks are aimed at playing a blame game over the US and Israeli regime’s failure to deal with their own problems and emphasized that such rhetoric merely serves domestic consumption purposes.

“The criminal, murderous and aggressive face of Israel and the US is known to all world nations,” Dehqan said.

He added that nations across the globe regard the US and Israel as warmongering, aggressive, savage and violators of human rights.

The strong Iranian nation believes that such remarks indicate weakness and incapability of Washington and Tel Aviv, Dehqan said, stressing that Iran is “ready to give an unforgettable [salutary] lesson to aggressors.”

Israel left no stone unturned to torpedo the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries that culminated in the nuclear agreement – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The Israeli regime has also been on an offensive to undermine the deal since it was struck.

The JCPOA was clinched in the Austrian capital of Vienna on July 14 after 18 days of intense negotiations and all-nighters that capped around 23 months of talks between Iran and the P5+1 – the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany.

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