Senior lawmaker: US joking about attacking Iran

A senior Iranian legislator lambasted the US officials for their military threats against Iran, and saying these statements are nothing but some jokes. “The US and western officials’ threats against the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic are nothing more than jokes since today they are entangled in the quagmire of war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Turkey,” member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Hassan Kamran told FNA on Wednesday. He underlined that the US officials make such comments only for internal use. His remarks came after US Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview in Geneva in January that the military option was still on the table “if Iran did not live up to its nuclear commitments under the Geneva deal”. After her remarks, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan reiterated Iran's full preparedness to confront any possible enemy threat and aggression, and said that the country's military forces will give a swift and decisive response to any US or Israeli threat. “The westerners are angry at us and they use the nuclear issue as a worn-out pretext to leave an impact on our nation,” Dehqan said, addressing a ceremony to unveil a new home-made communication system of the Law Enforcement Police in Tehran on Tuesday. “Certainly, our nation will not be affected and is fully ready to confront any arrogant move of the US or its little child, Israel,” he underlined. The Iranian minister advised the Americans to see the Iranian nation’s resolve, understand its greatness and shift their path to move on the right path. The United States has long stressed that military action is a main option for the White House to deter Iran's progress in the field of nuclear technology. Iran has warned that in case of an attack by either the US or Israel, it will target 32 American bases in the Middle-East and close the strategic Strait of Hormuz. An estimated 40 percent of the world's oil supply passes through the waterway.