The armed forces of Iran will target “the heart” of Israel if the Jewish state makes the “slightest move” against it, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi warned Jerusalem in a televised address Monday.
“If you make the slightest move against our nation … our armed forces’ destination will be the heart of the Zionist regime,” Raisi warned. He spoke as talks stalled in Vienna amid President Biden’s attempt to resurrect former President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.
While Obama and Biden stated that their deals aim to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, critics like former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Ron Dermer have claimed that the Biden deal would put Iran on a glide path to nuclear weapons. Reporting surfaced last month that the U.S. may consider removing Iran’s Revolutionary Guard from its list of designated terrorist groups in exchange for regional peace.
Israel has opposed such a deal, and Israeli officials have said they will unilaterally do what is necessary to protect their country. “The Zionist regime [Israel], you should know that … if you take the slightest move against our nation, our armed forces will target the heart of the Zionist regime” Raisi said in a televised speech at a military parade to mark the national Army Day.
Troops marched in front of the podium where Raisi stood with army officers. Helicopters flew overhead and parachutists dropped down over the parade area near the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic state. The United States and Iran have been engaged in indirect talks for more than a year to rescue the pact.
Washington left it in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. But the talks were suspended last month over the unresolved issue of whether the United States might remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization list, as demanded by Tehran.
