Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned today that Iran will retaliate with force if attacked over its nuclear program.
Ali Khamenei said Iran would respond firmly to any harm done to the country, but made no reference to recent threats by US President Donald Trump.
Iran's supreme leader spoke during a speech in Tehran marking the end of Ramadan today.
Tehran's Foreign Ministry also today considered a shocking affront to the threat by the US president, who admitted to bombing Iran if an agreement on the nuclear program is not reached.
"An open bombing threat by a head of state against Iran is a shocking affront to the very essence of international peace and security," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei said on social media today.
In an interview with the American network NBC, Donald Trump reiterated that bombings could occur if an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue is not reached.
"If they don't sign a deal there will be bombings," Trump said, referring to Iran.
European countries, Israel and the United States accuse Tehran of developing nuclear weapons.
Iran rejects the allegations and says its nuclear program exists only for civilian purposes, in particular for energy purposes.
In 2015, the country signed an agreement with permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (People's Republic of China, Russia, the United States, France and the United Kingdom) and Germany to regulate activities related to nuclear energy.
In 2018, during his first term as head of state, Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the agreement and reinstated the imposition of sanctions.
Since his return to the presidency in January, Trump has said he is willing to engage in dialogue with Tehran, having written a letter to that effect to Iranian leaders.
Iran said last Thursday that it responded to Washington's message through the Sultanate of Oman.
At the same time, Donald Trump has stepped up his "maximum pressure" policy against Tehran, imposing additional sanctions to reduce its oil exports and other sources of income to zero, and threatening military action if Iran refuses to hold talks.
The US president also warned Iran against supporting Houthi rebels in Yemen, against whom Washington has carried out strikes in recent weeks.
"Every shot fired by the Houthis will be considered a shot fired by Iranian weapons and Iranian leaders, and Iran will be held accountable and will suffer the consequences," which could be dire, Donald Trump recently wrote on social media.
Iran and the United States have not had diplomatic relations since 1980, but the two countries exchange information indirectly through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which represents US interests in Iran.
The Sultanate of Oman has also played a mediating role in the past as has Qatar.
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian reiterated on Sunday that Iran will not accept negotiations with the United States, under threat.
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