Iran says will "raze" Tel Aviv if Israel attacks

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran's defense minister has responded to the suggestion of military action from Israel by threatening to "raze" the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa, as regional tensions remain high amid U.S. President Joe Biden's efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal, Newsweek reports.

Israel remains staunchly opposed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which it says is inadequate and will only embolden Tehran in its weapons programs, and has threatened military action against Iran's nuclear program.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that his country would stop Iran's nuclear program "with or without" the JCPOA, while Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Israel Defense Forces chief Aviv Kohavi have both said their troops are drawing up attack plans.

Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said Sunday that the country would retaliate if attacked, the state-run Fars News Agency reported. Hatami dismissed Israeli leaders as "dogs" and the country as "too small to show hostility to the Islamic Republic."

"The Zionist regime knows—and if it does not know, it should know—that if it makes a mistake, the Islamic Republic will raze down Tel Aviv and Haifa," Hatami added. "I advise them not to make this mistake, even in words."