Iran claims Israel, US can’t ‘do a damn thing’ against Tehran after threats on nuclear sites
Islamic Republic vows to ‘not show any weakness’ on ‘peaceful’ program, slams ‘threatening’ remark after Netanyahu says Israel will ‘finish the job’ against Axis of Resistance
Iran on Monday vowed to defend its nuclear program and condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that Jerusalem “can and will finish the job” against Tehran’s “axis of terror,” saying that Israel and the US “cannot do a damn thing.”
Netanyahu made the comment at a joint press conference in Jerusalem on Sunday with visiting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said Iran was “behind every terrorist group” in the region and that a nuclear Iran could “never happen.”
Responding to Netanyahu, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that “threatening others is both a gross violation of international law and the United Nations charter.”
“When it comes to a country like Iran, [Israel and the US] cannot do a damn thing,” he added.
“You cannot threaten Iran on one hand and claim to support dialogue on the other hand,” Baghaei said according to state media.
Baghaei said Iran had defended its nuclear program and would not hesitate to continue doing so.
“Iran’s peaceful nuclear program is ongoing, and has been for the last three decades, based on Iran’s rights as a member in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,” he said. “Definitely we will not show any weakness in this regard.”
Iran, whose leaders are sworn to Israel’s destruction, has formally rejected nuclear weapons. However, it has continued to advance its nuclear program, accelerating the enrichment of uranium to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90% needed to assemble a nuclear warhead. Critics say there are no civilian purposes for such highly enriched uranium
On Friday, the UN nuclear watchdog chief said time was running out to rein in Iran’s nuclear program. Meanwhile, US intelligence has reportedly assessed that Israel would strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming year.
Netanyahu was also said to have discussed a potential strike with US President Donald Trump, and it is further said that the US has supplied Israel with heavy munitions required for the operation.
Trump said earlier this month that he prefers to cut a deal with Iran than “bombing the hell out of it” and that “if we made the deal, Israel wouldn’t bomb them.”
In his first term, the US president had backed out of his predecessor Barack Obama’s 2015 deal, which saw Western powers give Iran sanctions relief in return for some oversight of its nuclear program. The deal is set to expire in October.
Military officials have said Israel was preparing to strike Iran after having taken out Syria’s air defenses, following the ousting by rebel forces in December of Syria’s Iran-backed president Bashar Al-Assad.
Iran’s own air defenses were already degraded following an Israeli strike, which came in response to Iran’s October 1 ballistic missile barrage — its second direct attack on Israel, following a missile and drone strike on Israel the night of April 13-14.
Iran’s October attack came days after Israel killed Hassan Nasrallah, the long-time leader of Tehran’s Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, during Israel’s 14-month war against the terror group, which ended with a November 27 ceasefire.
Nasrallah’s successor Naim Qassem announced earlier this month that the terror chief’s funeral would take place outside Beirut on February 23, after Israel’s scheduled withdrawal from south Lebanon under the ceasefire agreement.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said Tehran would send a “high-level” delegation to the funeral.
Israel has accused Iran of smuggling supplies to its weakened proxy, including cash via civilian flights. Last week, Lebanon blocked an Iranian plane from landing following an Israeli warning, triggering violent pro-Hezbollah riots.
Hezbollah is part of Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance, which includes Gaza’s Hamas and Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The proxy terror network has attacked Israel and wreaked havoc on Red Sea shipping amid the war in Gaza, sparked when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
