Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called on the Iranian army to raise its readiness to the required level and play an influential role in performing the tasks.
Fars News Agency reported that Khamenei’s call came “on the occasion of the Day of the Islamic Republic’s Army and the heroic epics made by the ground force, which falls tomorrow, Sunday, April 18.”
Khamenei issued a statement on this occasion to the commander of the Iranian armed forces, Major General Abdul Rahim Mousavi, in which he said:
“My greetings to all the dear army soldiers and their respected families. Today the army is in the square and is ready to perform its tasks.”
He called on the armed forces to raise their readiness amid increased tensions with Israel, following accusations that the latter was behind the sabotage incident at the Natanz nuclear reactor.
This statement was also issued after statements by Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, in which he said that Israel will do “everything necessary” to ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons.
According to what was published by Reuters, on Friday, Ashkenazi said that the discussions focused on the possibilities of building on prosperity and stability in the region.
“We took time to discuss the challenges that Iran, Hezbollah and other extremists pose to Middle East stability and regional peace,” the Israeli Foreign Minister said.
On Saturday, the Iranian authorities identified the suspect in the attack at the Natanz nuclear facility, which took place last week, saying that he was called Reza Karimi, and he was one of the workers at the facility.
Iranian television quoted the Ministry of Intelligence as saying: “The suspect in the Natanz facility attack is called Reza Karimi, who was one of the workers in the facility and fled outside the country after intelligence agents recognized him.”
The Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, accused Israel of being behind the targeting of the internal energy system, vowing to respond to this latest incident.
The incident came hours after Iran announced the start of operating new advanced centrifuges at the Natanz facility.
This is not the first time that the Natanz nuclear reactor has been subjected to attacks, which were described as “sabotage”. In July of last year, the reactor witnessed a mysterious explosion, which Iran blamed on Israel.
Source » almasdarnews