A military exercise launched earlier this week by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) was a warning to Israel, the head of the IRGC said on Friday, adding that if Israel takes military action against Tehran, “we will cut off their hands.”
“The message of this exercise is a serious and real warning to the threats of the Zionist regime officials,” Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami said, referring to a five-day military exercise launched by the IRGC across Iran’s south on Monday in which the IRGC’s aerospace division and ground and naval forces participated.
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“If they (Israel) make any mistakes, we will cut off their hands,” Salami warned.
Salami’s comments come amid heightened tensions over Iran’s nuclear program.
Israel has warned it would use force should diplomacy fail to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Israel has the capability to carry out a successful strike on Iran’s nuclear sites as early as “tomorrow,” Israel’s incoming Air Force chief said earlier this week.
Talks between the remaining signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – Iran, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain –resumed in Vienna in November after a five-month pause.
The eighth round of the talks will resume on Monday, officials have said.
The US is participating indirectly in the talks that aim to bring Iran back into compliance with the nuclear pact and facilitate a US return to the agreement.
Under the deal, Iran limited its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.
Washington withdrew from the deal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, reimposing sweeping sanctions on Tehran.
Iran has since started enriching uranium up to 60 percent purity – a big step closer to the 90 percent that is weapons-grade material.
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