Iran has said it will “respond decisively” after Israel and the United States launched strikes on the country despite talks underway on Tehran’s nuclear programme, AFP reports.

“The armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will respond decisively to the aggressors,” a foreign ministry said in a statement, insisting Iran had done “everything necessary to prevent war”.

“Just as we were ready for negotiations, we are now more prepared than ever to defend the Iranian nation,” it said.