Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Tuesday that any threat to his country’s security will result in the “destruction of Haifa and Tel Aviv ” and called on the United States to withdraw its troops from the region.
“The enemies, especially the Zionist regime, have received the message that the slightest mistake against the country will provoke a severe response from the Armed Forces that will result in the destruction of Haifa and Tel Aviv,” Raisi said in a speech during a parade. military celebrated National Iranian Army Day.
The Iranian president also called on the United States to withdraw its troops from the region “for its own interest,” according to Press TV. Fighters flew over Tehran during the parade.
“The presence of foreign troops threatens regional security, but our Armed Forces provide security when they are present in the region,” said the president.
“Our Armed Forces shake hands with nations trying to create security in the region,” Raisi added, in an apparent reference to Saudi Arabia. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang shake hands during a meeting in Beijing, China.
Tehran and Riyadh agreed in March to reestablish their diplomatic relations on March 10, a deal that was struck in Beijing with China acting as an intermediary.
During the parade, fighter jets flew over the Iranian capital while troops paraded alongside tanks and other weapons in front of the Iranian president, live local television shows. Drones of different sizes cross the central part of the event in Tehran.
The president’s statements come after the covert war between Iran and Israel has increased in recent weeks.
Tel Aviv has attacked Syria with missiles four times in recent weeks, bombing attacks that have killed two “advisers” to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, an elite body that has vowed revenge for their deaths.
At the same time, Israel has suffered rocket fire from Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. Israeli security personnel checks the remains of a rocket in Shlomi, northern Israel April 6, 2023. (REUTERS/Fadi Amun)
Raisi’s comments also coincide with the visit to Israel of Reza Pahlavi, son of the last shah, who was deposed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Pahlavi, who considers himself the country’s crown prince, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to renew the longstanding ties that Tel Aviv and Tehran maintained during the reign of his father, Mohamad Reza Pahlavi.
Israel considers Iran an “existential threat” and views with concern not only its nuclear program but the expansion of its military capabilities throughout the Middle East, financing and supporting armed militias in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and Iraq.
(With information from EFE)
