Iran warns it won't 'leave Israel in peace' after any hostile action: President Raisi

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi warned on Monday that Tehran's armed forces would not let arch-foe Israel rest if it took action targeting the Islamic Republic.

"You must know that if you try to take any action against the Iranian nation... our armed forces will not leave you in peace," Raisi said during a military parade to mark National Army Day.

His comments come days after he warned neighbouring Iraq against using its territory for activities that disrupt Iran's security.

Last month, Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the military's ideological arm, said it fired a dozen ballistic missiles at a "strategic" site in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdistan region, claiming they were being used by Israel.

However, Erbil governor Oumid Khouchnaw dismissed as "baseless" the presence of Israeli sites in and around the city.

"There are no Israeli sites in the region," he said at the time.

Also last month, Israel hosted talks attended by top Arab diplomats and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying the meeting would send a strong message to Tehran.

"This new architecture, the shared capabilities we are building, intimidates and deters our common enemies - first and foremost Iran and its proxies," Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said at the end of the meeting in southern Israel.

The meeting came as world powers have been negotiating a way to revive a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, to rein in its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

Israel adamantly opposes the deal, saying it does not do enough to curb Iran's nuclear programme or its military activities across the region, and Israeli officials have said they will unilaterally do what they consider necessary to protect the country.

The intended aim of the #NegevSummit was to discuss solutions to security threats, but this was completely undermined by the absence of Palestine and the reluctance of the US to confront Iran. @moh_salami looks at the ins & outs of the historic event 👇 https://t.co/XXcl5ToNGd

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) April 17, 2022

This is despite Israel being the only state in the world known to have an undeclared nuclear weapons programme. It is thought to have 90 warheads.

The accord started to unravel in 2018 when then-US president Donald Trump left the deal and reinstated sanctions, leading Iran to in turn step up its nuclear programme again.

On Thursday, the UN atomic energy watchdog said Iran has started to make components for machines used to enrich uranium at a new workshop in Natanz, the country's main nuclear site.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said the new workshop replaces a nuclear facility in Karaj, near Tehran, after an attack there last year, which Iran said was an act of sabotage carried out by Israel.