Iran's president has threatened to react with a "fierce and painful" response to Israel - even if it is the "tiniest move" against the country.
It comes as the region braces for retaliation from Israel after Iran launched hundreds of drones last weekend.
President Ebrahim Raisi warned that: "The smallest action against Iran's interests will definitely be met with a fierce, widespread and painful response against all its perpetrators."
The Iran leader spoke on Wednesday at an annual army parade which was relocated to a barracks north of the capital, Tehran.
Iran's president has threatened to react with a "fierce and painful" response to Israel - even if it is the "tiniest move" against the country
Reuters
Iran did not confirm why the event was relocated or give an explanation for the event not being broadcast live.
Israel has vowed to respond back to the missile and drone attacks by Iran which followed what the Iranians claim was an Israeli strike on their embassy compound in the Syrian capital of Damascus on April 1 which killed 12 people.
Tensions in the Middle East have being growing since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7.
Raisi said: "The people of the world saw that after the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, ‘True Promise’ collapsed the Zionist regime’s false hegemony."
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The Gaza war, now in its seventh month, has driven up tensions in the region, spreading to fronts with Lebanon and Syria and drawing long-range fire at Israeli targets from as far away as Yemen and Iraq.
Those clashes now threaten to morph into a direct open conflict pitting Iran and its regional allies against Israel and its main supporter the US.
In a statement, the Iranian president said: "That is the time when the supporters of the Zionist regime will find out that their hidden power will not be able to do anything."
The leader also hit out at Israel’s allies.
Iran launched over 300 drones and missiles towards IsraelReutersHe said: "Those countries that sought to normalise relations with this cruel and criminal regime, are ashamed before their nations today."
At an emergency UN Security Council meeting last Sunday, envoys from the two countries locked horns over the attacks - with Israel calling for sanctions and further retaliation, Iran claiming the matter had "concluded", and UN Secretary-General António Guterres counselling de-escalation.
He warned against inflaming tensions any further by retaliating against Iran, adding that the Middle East was already "on the brink".
