Iran's president-elect Hassan Rohani continued with the traditional anti-Israel rhetoric made famous by his predecessor President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday.
"When some say that all options are on the table and when a miserable regional country says such things, it makes you laugh," Rohani said Wednesday.
Related stories:
"Who are the Zionists to threaten us?" he asked in an address to veterans of the Iran-Iraq War. Rohani added that Israel is avoiding bombing Iran's nuclear facilities because of Tehran's threats of forceful retaliation.
Rohani and Ahmadinejad (Photo: AFP)
On Tuesday, the Iranian president-elect has sent messages to Syria's Bashar Assad and Lebanon 'sterrorist Hezbollah group, reaffirming support for the two allies.
The official IRNA news agency cited Rohani as saying close Iranian-Syrian ties will be able to confront "enemies in the region, especially the Zionist regime," aka Israel. Rohani also said that Syria will "overcome its current crisis."
The comments came as world powers hoped to resume negotiations with Iran over its disputed nuclear program "as soon as possible", as European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Tuesday.