A senior Iranian lawmaker threatened that Israel would be destroyed in “half an hour” if the United States attacks the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“If the US attacks us, only half an hour will remain of Israel’s lifespan,” said Mojtaba Zolnour, chairman of Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, in comments carried by the Mehr news agency.
Weeks of tensions culminated last month in U.S. President Donald Trump’s last-minute decision to call off planned strikes on Iran after Tehran downed a U.S. drone.
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Washington also accused Iran of being behind attacks on ships in the Gulf, which Tehran denies.
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Iran acknowledged it had broken the limit set on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by the 2015 nuclear deal, marking its first major departure from the unraveling agreement a year after the US unilaterally withdrew from the accord.
The threat of nuclear war was brought back to the world stage by the US’ withdrawal from the Middle East Non-Proliferation Treaty after President Trump accused Iran of ramping up production of its nuclear arsenal.
This week Iran announced that it will breach its limit of enriched uranium on June 27 that was set under a 2015 nuclear deal by world leaders including President Obama.
Rouhani criticized the U.S. for withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, saying Washington is forcing other parties and countries to breach a UN Security Council resolution on normalising trade contacts with Tehran.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has accused the United States of being a ‘serious threat’ to global and regional stability as tensions soar in the Gulf.
‘The US government over the last two years, violating all the international structures and rules and using its economic, financial and military resources, has taken an aggressive approach and presents a serious risk to stability in the region and the world,’ Rouhani said.
The state-run IRNA news agency quoted Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as making the uranium announcement. IRNA reported that Zarif, answering a reporter’s question whether Iran had broken the limit, said: “Yes.”
“If Europeans do what they have to do, our measures are reversible,” Zarif said, according to IRNA.
Zarif did not say how much low-enriched uranium Iran had on hand, IRNA said.
Also, Monday, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency said Iran was behind a string of recent attacks on targets across the Persian Gulf.
Speaking at an annual security conference in Israel on Monday, Yossi Cohen said, “I can tell you, with certainty, from the best sources of Israeli and Western intelligence, that Iran is behind the attacks.”
Cohen mentioned recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf, oil fields in Saudi Arabia and in Baghdad. He said the attacks “were approved by the Iranian leadership and were carried out, at least mostly, by the Revolutionary Guard and their surrogates.”
Israel has long seen Iran as its greatest threat. Iranian officials regularly threaten to destroy the Jewish state.
