DUBAI: Iran’s armed forces will target Israel’s heart if it makes “the slightest move” against the Islamic Republic, President Ebrahim Raisi told a military parade on Monday, amid stalled talks between Tehran and world powers to revive a 2015 nuclear pact.

Israel, widely believed to have the Middle East’s only atomic arsenal, says it will not be bound by any Iran nuclear deal and could eventually take unilateral action against Iranian nuclear sites.

“The Zionist regime (Israel), you should know that ... if you take the slightest move against our nation, our armed forces will target the heart of the Zionist regime” Raisi said in a televised speech at a military parade to mark the national Army Day.

Troops marched in front of the podium where Raisi stood with army officers. Helicopters flew overhead and parachutists dropped down over the parade area near the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of Islamic Republic.

The US and Iran have been engaged in indirect talks for more than a year to rescue the pact.

But the talks were suspended last month over the unresolved issue of whether the US might remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the US Foreign Terrorist Organisation list, as demanded by Tehran.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2022