Iran vows 'regrettable' reply to Israel

PressTV--Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned Israel and the US against launching a war on Iran, saying the Islamic Republic will give a regrettable response to any strike.

“They wish to do it, they want to do it, but they know about our power. They know that we are going to give them a decisive response,” said President Ahmadinejad in an interview with Russia Today news network on Saturday. 

“We have a saying in our language: If someone throws a smaller stone (at you), you should respond with a bigger stone. We will defend ourselves within our capabilities,” he added. 

However, the Iranian chief executive expressed hope that such a day will never come as there is no reason for any strike against Iran. 

President Ahmadinejad emphasized that Israel has been founded for the purpose of making threats and aggression and securing the interests of the West. 

He also reiterated that the entity of the Israeli regime depends on terror, occupation and aggression. 

In the past 60 years, Israel has done the same thing, but finally it will look at the world map and will find out about our historical might, Ahmadinejad concluded. 

Amid a standoff over Iran's nuclear program, both Tel Aviv and Washington have repeatedly threatened Tehran with the "option" of a military strike, based on the allegation that Iran's nuclear work may consist of a covert military agenda. 

Iran says its nuclear program is completely peaceful and within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which it is a signatory. 

Iranian officials have warned that any act of aggression by the US and Israel against Iran would be firmly responded to and could result in a war that would spread beyond the Middle East. 

In June, former head of Israel's Mossad spy agency Meir Dagan warned that any attack on Tehran by Tel Aviv would result in a “regional war.” 

"It is important to know what the outcome of an attack on Iran would be, what would happen on the day after and what situation Israel would find itself in on the international stage," he said. 

"An attack on Iran would mean regional war,” stressed Dagan, urging Israeli officials to “consider all options and not to run straight for the war option.”