Iran’s Army Chief, Amir Hatami, warned the United States and Israel on Saturday against carrying out any attack, saying Iranian forces are on the highest state of alert following this week’s deployment of significant US military forces in the Gulf.
“If the enemy makes a mistake, it will undoubtedly endanger its own security, that of the region and that of the Zionist regime,” Hatami said, according to statements carried by Iran’s official news agency IRNA. He added that Iran’s armed forces are “on the highest level of readiness”.
Blast damages two floors
Meanwhile, an explosion occurred on Saturday in a building at the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on the Gulf, state television reported, adding that the cause of the blast remains unknown.
State television said the explosion caused damage to two floors of an eight-storey building, as well as to vehicles and shops in the surrounding area. Rescue teams and firefighters were deployed at the scene, it added.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that claims circulating on social media that the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy was targeted in the explosion are “completely false”.
Hatami also said that Iran’s nuclear technology cannot be “eradicated”, as US President Donald Trump presses Tehran to reach an agreement on its nuclear programme.
“The nuclear knowledge and technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran cannot be eliminated, even if the nation’s scientists and children are martyred,” he said, referring to air strikes that targeted Iranian nuclear facilities during the 12-day war with Israel in June.