Iranian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Es’haq Al-e-Habib has warned that Iran will “retaliate” with its utmost power against any attack on its soil.
Addressing the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Al-e-Habib said Iran’s nuclear energy program is exclusively peaceful and in full conformity with the country’s international obligations, dismissing unsubstantiated claims that Tehran is seeking to produce an atomic weapon.
He added that Iran is strong enough to defend itself and reserves the right to retaliate with full force against any attack.
The Iranian envoy made the comments after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made baseless allegations against Iran during his speech to the UN General Assembly and drew red lines for Iran’s nuclear program, claiming that Iran would acquire military nuclear capability by next summer.
“The red line must be drawn on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program because these enrichment facilities are the only nuclear installations that we can definitely see and credibly target,” Netanyahu said while accusing Iran of backing terrorism.
Al-e-Habib added that Israel is a regime which is based on terrorism and is the founding father of state terrorism in the world.
The Iranian official further added that the Israeli prime minister had “shamelessly and hypocritically” made the accusations and described Tel Aviv as a non-declared nuclear regime.
He also said Israel is masterminding terror operations in Iran that have so far led to the deaths of several nuclear scientists.
Al-e-Habib scuffed at the “imaginary” diagram of a bomb that Netanyahu used in his speech, saying he used the cartoon to justify their threat against a founding member of the United Nations.
“In our increasingly inter-connected world and in the information age, it is hardly possible for nations to be fooled by such absurd means,” Al-e-Habib said, adding no amount of slander, deception or smear campaign by the Israeli regime can cloud its dark history.
The Iranian envoy called on the international community to live up to its responsibility and exert more pressure on Tel Aviv to end all this irresponsible behavior in the volatile Middle East region.
Israel is stepping up threats of carrying out a unilateral strike against Iran’s nuclear energy facilities. However, the US opposes any Israeli military action at the current juncture with presidential elections less than two weeks away.
Tension between Israel and the United States over Iran’s nuclear energy program bubbled to the surface again earlier this month when White House spokesman Jay Carney said that Washington insists there is still “time and space” to resolve the issue over Iran’s nuclear program.
US President Barack Obama said on September 23 that Israel’s call for drawing red line over Iran’s nuclear energy program is just “noise” he tries to ignore.
“When it comes to our national security decisions, any pressure that I feel is simply to do what’s right for the American people. And I am going to block out any noise that’s out there,” Obama said.
Iran has vehemently refuted the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is entitled to use nuclear technology for peaceful objectives.
The Israeli regime is the sole possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, and has invariably refused to either allow inspections of its nuclear facilities or join the NPT.
Press TV