Iran military warns US against threats to use force

The Iranian military warned the United States and Israel on Friday against threatening Iran with force, Iranian media reported, after US President Joe Biden said he would use force as a last resort to prevent Tehran getting a nuclear weapon, Reuters reports.

“The Americans and Zionists (Israel) know very well the price for using the word ‘force against Iran’,” Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, spokesman for the Iranian armed forces, was quoted as saying by state media.

“Biden must have been drowsy when he threatened Iran,” he said, adding, “Watch your soldiers’ pants – they might get wet in the Persian Gulf!”

Asked by Israeli television this week whether his past statements that he would prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon meant he would use force against Iran, Biden replied: “If that was the last resort, yes.”

On Thursday, Biden and Israeli Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, signed a joint pledge to deny Iran nuclear arms, an apparent move toward accommodating Israel’s calls for a “credible military threat” by world powers.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, saying that its nuclear program is for solely peaceful purposes.

Tehran struck a deal with six major powers in 2015 under which it limited its uranium enrichment program to make it harder to develop a nuclear weapon in return for relief from international sanctions.

US President, Donald Trump reneged on the deal in 2018 and re-imposed harsh sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to start violating the agreement’s nuclear limits, about a year later.

Diplomatic efforts to resurrect the deal have, so far, failed.

READ: US, Israel leaders jointly pledge to deny Iran nuclear weaponry