Iran is ready to respond to any new armed attack, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said today, adding that Tehran is capable of a heavier blow to its enemies than the one it inflicted during the 12-day war with Israel, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
"The fact that our nation is ready to confront the might of the United States and its dog on a leash - the Zionist regime (Israel - ed. Reuters), deserves praise", Khamenei said in a statement broadcast on state television.
Israel and the United States carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites last month, claiming that they were part of measures against Iran's development of nuclear weapons. Tehran claims that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
"The base attacked by Iran is an extremely sensitive American base in the region," Khamenei said in connection with Iran's missile attack on the US air base "Al-Udeid" in Qatar.
"A heavier blow could be inflicted on the US and other countries," the ayatollah noted.
Iran is under pressure to resume talks with the US on its nuclear program. "On both the diplomatic and military fronts, whenever we appear on the scene, we are prepared, we do not appear from a position of weakness," Khamenei said. He called on diplomats to comply with "guidelines" and to continue working vigorously, without going into details.
In general, the supreme leader did not rule out diplomacy amid military tensions and the dispute over the nuclear program, DPA emphasized.
"We have all the necessary means such as knowledge and military power", Ali Khamenei noted in his speech today.
The Iranian parliament came out with the position that the country should not resume nuclear negotiations with the United States until certain preliminary conditions are met, Reuters recalls.