Iran says Israel not capable of threatening it
Tehran official says Jewish state's threats to attack Islamic republic rooted in 'number of domestic crises,' warns any attack will meet 'devastating response'
Iran said on Monday that Israel cannot threaten it, a few days after a US newspaper reported that Israel's air force had apparently rehearsed a potential bombing raid of Iran's nuclear facilities.
Iran and Israel have engaged in a sharp exchange of words this month over suspicions Tehran is looking to develop nuclear weapons, helping to push global oil prices higher.
"They do not have the capacity to threaten the Islamic Republic of Iran," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told a news conference.
Asked about the New York Times' Friday report on that the alleged training during which Israeli jets conducted a long-range Mediterranean exercise for a mission against Iran, he said": "They (Israel) have a number of domestic crises and they want to extrapolate it to cover others. Sometimes they come up with these empty slogans."
Iran's defense minister on Sunday accused Israel of "psychological warfare", but said Tehran would give a "devastating" response to any attack.
On Friday, the UN nuclear watchdog chief, Mohamed El Baradei, said a military strike on Iran would turn the Middle East into a fireball and prompt Tehran to launch a crash course to build nuclear weapons.
Western powers suspect Tehran is seeking to develop nuclear bombs and European Union president Slovenia said the 27-nation bloc was scheduled to agree a new round of sanctions against Iran on Monday over its refusal to stop uranium enrichment.
Israel, widely believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, has described Iran's nuclear program as a threat to its existence.
