TEHRAN – A member of the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has dismissed as a joke the threats of an Israeli war against Iran, saying the hegemons have realized that the Islamic Republic is dead serious when it comes to its security.

“The claim of war from the rulers of the Zionist regime is a joke, because that regime has even failed to stand up against small resistance groups in the past few years,” Ebrahim Rezaee told ISNA on Thursday.

The Israeli regime warned last week that there could be an Israel-Iran war if Joe Biden wins the U.S. presidency. 

“Biden has said openly for a long time that he will go back to the nuclear agreement,” Israeli Settlements Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said earlier this month, reported The Jerusalem Post. “I see that as something that will lead to a confrontation between Israel and Iran.”

The remarks came before the historic defeat of incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump in the November 3 presidential election against Democratic candidate Biden. So far, Trump has refused to concede, claiming extensive voter fraud in the swing states that decided the election’s outcome.

Since Trump assumed office in January 2017, Israel, Saudi Arabia and certain Arab countries have pushed for a harsher U.S. foreign policy against Iran. They supported Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal – which was clinched under Barack Obama – and cheered the U.S. president for his subsequent sanctions on Tehran that caused more than two hundred billions of dollars in losses.

The nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was reached in Vienna on 14 July 2015 between Iran and six world powers, including the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany, and also the European Union. Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA was deplored by all other parties to the deal.

In the meantime, hopes to revitalize the nuclear deal were raised after Biden was elected president. Biden has promised to “change course” and rejoin the accord “as a starting point for follow-on negotiations” if Iran returns to compliance with it.

On May 8, 2019, exactly one year after Trump’s withdrawal, Iran began to gradually reduce its nuclear commitments according to the JCPOA, citing the other parties’ failure to secure its interests under the deal. However, Tehran has repeatedly said that it will return to its commitments if the other parties can protect its interests against the United States’ “toughest ever” sanctions.

Iran has urged Biden to abandon the disastrous, lawless bullying of the outgoing regime, and to respect multilateralism and rule of law.

MH/PA