Iran is "always ready for war," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told Turkish daily Hurriyet on Thursday, adding that if any country tried to insult Iran, it would respond fiercely.
The comments were made a day after Israel successfully test-launched a missile and announced the completion of a joint exercise between the Israel Air Force, Italy and NATO in Sardinia, both of which occurred amidst intense media speculation about possible plans to strike Iran.
Salehi went on to tell Hurriyet, “Iran has always been threatened by Israel. This is not new for us. We have been hearing threats from Israel for eight years. Our nation is a united nation. Its roots are deep in history. Such threats are not new to us.”
“We are very confident of ourselves. We can defend our country.”
In addition to the military exercises, a report in The Guardian on Wednesday speculated that the UK is speeding up plans for targeted missile strikes against Iranian nuclear targets, should the US lead such a strike.