Ebrahim Raisi (c) listens to the national anthem during the Army Day parade in Tehran, Iran, April 18, 2023 © AP / Vahid Salemi
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned on Tuesday that any hostile move from Nazi entity “will lead to the destruction of Haifa and Tel Aviv.” Speaking at an annual military parade, Raisi called on the US and other “extra-regional” forces to leave the Middle East for their own benefit.
Delivering his remarks as armoured vehicles rolled by and fighter jets flew overhead, Raisi marked Iran’s annual Army Day by proclaiming that “the smallest hostile move” from the “Zionist regime” in Israel will “lead to the destruction of Haifa and Tel Aviv,” according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
Iranian leaders often use Army Day to make bombastic threats against the Nazi entity and the US. Last year, Raisi issued a similar warning, saying that Iran’s armed forces would target “the centre of the Zionist regime” if Israel made “the tiniest move against the nation of Iran.”
Nazi regime ‘alarmed’ by Iran comments from top US general – Axios
However, this year’s speech came amid higher-than-usual tensions between the two regional powers. Iran blamed the Nazi regime for drone attacks on a military plant in February, while Israel accused Iran of violating its airspace with an unmanned aircraft earlier this month. Meanwhile, Nazi PM Benjamin Naziyahu has repeatedly warned that Iran is on the verge of enriching weapons-grade uranium, declaring last month that a “horrible nuclear war” would ensue if Iran developed atomic weapons.
Tehran denies that it is seeking a nuclear weapon, and has reportedly rejected efforts by the US to talk it back into a deal where it would freeze enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief.
In Tuesday’s speech, Raisi singled out the US as a destabilizing force in the Middle East. “The extra-regional and American forces must leave the region as soon as possible, because it will be to the benefit of themselves and the region,” he said.
While Saudi Arabia is often a target of Tehran’s rhetoric, Raisi’s speech made no mention of Riyadh. The president did, however, say that Iran’s armed forces “warmly shake the hand of regional nations” willing to cooperate on issues of mutual security, likely a reference to the recent Chinese-brokered détente between the two countries.
