(Reuters) – The Iranian military warned the United States and Israel on Friday against threatening Iran with force, Iranian media reported, after U.S. President Joe Biden said he would use force as a last resort to prevent Tehran getting a nuclear weapon.
“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 seeks 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.
U.S. President Donald Trump reneged on the deal in 2018 and reimposed 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.
(Editing by Mark Heinrich)
