Chief of Staff: Iranian Armed Forces ready to respond to any threat

The Iranian Armed Forces are ready to respond to any foreign threat, said Lieutenant General Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Report informs via TASS.

He made the remark while responding to a question about Tehran's reaction to the possibility of Israel and the US striking Iranian territory.

This topic was presumably discussed during recent talks between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"The Armed Forces are in better condition than ever and are ready to respond to any threat," stated the Iranian Defense Ministry's press service quoting the general.

On February 4, Trump signed a decree aimed at restoring maximum US pressure on Iran. The document includes measures to intensify efforts to reduce Iranian oil exports. Despite this, Trump did not rule out the possibility of meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and expressed his desire to make an "excellent deal" with Tehran. Trump signed this decree prior to his meeting with Netanyahu at the White House.

According to the Axios, Netanyahu sought to persuade Trump to provide Israel with weapons capable of destroying Iran's underground nuclear facilities. The Israeli leadership has long viewed these facilities as an existential threat. Tehran, however, asserts that Iran's nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes and that the creation of nuclear weapons is prohibited by an order from the Supreme Leader.