Speaking to reporters following a cabinet meeting here in Tehran on Wednesday, Salehi played down the Israeli regime's recently intensified war rhetoric about an impending air strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, but meantime, stressed that Tehran would never ignore even the slightest threats.
"Iran is vigilant and awake to the threats. We take every trivial threat seriously and make the necessary preparations to respond to any measure, but this does not mean that these threats are serious," he reiterated.
"Our duty requires us to take the threats seriously but Israel is not in a position to do so," he said.
In similar remarks in June, the Iranian Supreme Leader's top military aide Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi termed the possibility of a US or Israeli military move against Iran as "weak", but meantime cautioned that Iran's crushing reprisal for an Israeli attack would force one million Israelis to flee in the first one or two weeks of the conflict.
Israel and its close ally the United States accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they have never presented any corroborative document to substantiate their allegations. Both Washington and Tel Aviv possess advanced weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads.
Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.
Iran has warned that it would target Israel and its worldwide interests in case it comes under attack by the Tel Aviv.
The United States has always stressed that military action is a main option for the White House to deter Iran's progress in the field of nuclear technology.
Iran has warned that in case of an attack by either the US or Israel, it will target 32 American bases in the Middle East and close the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
An estimated 40 percent of the world's oil supply passes through the waterway.
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The Israeli officials' war rhetoric against Iran serves psychological purposes rather than being an actual threat Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said, but meantime, underlined that Tehran deals with all threats seriously.
News ID 182530
