© Mahmoud Zayyat, AFP
"If the United States attacks us, Israel will have only half an hour to live," Mojtaba Zonnour said, according to the Mehr news agency.
In addition, Zonnour described as "political deception" the statement that US President Donald Trump had posted to his Twitter account on June 21 about suspending planned attacks against three targets in Iran.
On June 20, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards downed an American spy plane that made incursions into the country's airspace in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian government has lodged a protest with the United Nations over the violation of its airspace by the United States.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to increase since May 2018 following the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan and the imposition of several sanctions on Iran.
Meanwhile, Iran would be close to exceeding uranium enrichment limits set by the Iranian nuclear deal, an anonymous source told Fars News.
By exceeding the threshold, Iran would be in breach of what was established in the Joint Action Plan (JCPOA) and sending a message to the other signatories of the agreement.
Iran's envoy to a meeting of the remaining signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal said on Friday that European countries offered very little in the talks to persuade Tehran to give up its plans to break the limits imposed by the agreement, Fars News Agency citing an anonymous source.
"As the commission meeting in Vienna could not meet the just requirements of Iran ... Iran is determined to reduce its commitments to the agreement and the 300 kg limit of enriched uranium will be breached soon," said the source anonymous, according to Fars.
On Friday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Iran would take another decisive step in reducing its obligations under the JCPOA if the EU Trade Facility (INSTEX) did not meet Tehran's demands.
Iran reminded the remaining parts of the nuclear deal - France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and the European Union - about its decision to abandon some parts of the agreement and also about the 60-day deadline given to Europe in May to ensure the interests of Iran in the agreement. Otherwise, Tehran said that if this request is not met, it will continue to abandon its obligations by suspending the modernization of the Arak nuclear reactor and abandoning restrictions on uranium enrichment levels.
Amid escalating tensions with the US, INSTEX was formally launched by France, Germany and the UK to facilitate trade with Iran in the face of US sanctions five months ago, but Iran has since criticized the tool as a measure weak and with limited capacity. European Union countries have said the mechanism will initially deal with food and medicine, while Tehran wants to include the oil trade.
Comment: This probably isn't a bluff. Hezbollah and Iran are on the same page, and Iran's current policy is to retaliate immediately upon launch of an attack on Iran. That means as soon as Iranian radar picks up missiles heading its way, it will launch its own counterattack on US assets, and their allies. That, of course, would include Israel. See:
- Russia reinforces Iranian air defense, mobilizes advisers for support
Bluff or not, the Americans have to factor it into their planning. After all, it wouldn't make much sense to sacrifice Israel for a war with Iran, when Israel is the one pushing the US to attack Iran in the first place.