JERUSALEM: Israel will strike Iran again if it is threatened by Tehran, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday.
“Israel’s long arm will reach you in Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, and anywhere you try to threaten or harm Israel. There is no place to hide”, Katz said at an air force graduation ceremony, according to a statement from his office.
“If we must return, we will do so with greater force.”
Israel launched a 12-day air war against Iran in June that raised fears of a broader regional conflict. The two sides agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire, announced by President Donald Trump on June 23, to end hostilities.
Israel struck Iranian nuclear sites during the campaign, citing concerns that Tehran was nearing the development of a nuclear weapon, which Iran denies. The United States joined the campaign with strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Meanwhile, Iran’s president said on Thursday the UN nuclear watchdog should drop its “double standards” if Tehran is to resume cooperation with it over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme, Iranian state media reported.
President Masoud Pezeshkian last week enacted a law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the IAEA said it had pulled its last remaining inspectors out of Iran.
Relations between Iran and the IAEA have worsened since the United States and Israel bombed Iranian nuclear facilities in June, saying they wanted to prevent Tehran developing an atomic weapon. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only and denies seeking atomic weapons.
“The continuation of Iran’s cooperation with the agency (IAEA) depends of the latter correcting its double standards regarding the nuclear file,” state media quoted Pezeshkian as telling European Council President Antonio Costa by phone.
“Any repeated aggression (against Iran) will be met with a more decisive and regrettable response,” he said.
Tehran accuses the IAEA of failing to condemn the attacks by the United States and Israel, and says the nuclear watchdog paved the way for the bombing by issuing a resolution declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
“Failure to observe the principle of impartiality in reporting is one of the examples that casts doubt on the status and credibility of the IAEA,” Pezeshkian said.
The bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities led to a 12-day war, during which Iran launched drones and missiles at Israel.
IAEA inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since the bombing campaign, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said it is his top priority.
