Iran ready to respond to any new attack, says supreme leader

• Khamenei hails Iran’s readiness to confront US, Israel.
• Urges diplomats to heed "guidelines", without elaborating.
• "Iran targeted highly sensitive regional base of US."
  

Iran is ready to respond to any renewed military attack, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday, adding that Tehran was capable of delivering a bigger blow to adversaries than the one it gave during the 12-day Iran-Israel war.

"The fact that our nation is ready to face the power of the United States and its dog on a leash, the Zionist regime [Israel], is very praiseworthy," Khamenei said in comments carried by state TV.

Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities last month, saying that they were part of a programme geared towards developing nuclear weapons. Tehran maintains that its nuclear programme is purely for civilian purposes.

"The base attacked by Iran was an extremely sensitive American regional base," Khamenei said in reference to an Iranian missile barrage on Al Udeid base in Qatar, adding "an even bigger blow could be inflicted on the US and others."

Iran is under pressure to resume nuclear talks with the US as Washington and three major European countries have agreed to set the end of August as the deadline for a deal.

If no progress is reached by then, France's foreign minister warned international sanctions would be reapplied via the United Nations snapback mechanism.

"In both the diplomatic and military fields, whenever we enter the stage we do so with our hands full and not from a position of weakness," Khamenei said.

He urged diplomats to heed "guidelines" and vigorously continue their work, without elaborating.

Iran's parliament shared a statement on Wednesday saying the country should not resume nuclear talks with the US as long as preconditions are unmet.

"When the US use negotiations as a tool to deceive Iran and cover up a sudden military attack by the Zionist regime [Israel], talks cannot be conducted as before. Preconditions must be set and no new negotiations can take place until they are fully met," the statement said.

The statement did not define the preconditions, but Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has previously said there should be guarantees there will be no further attacks against Tehran.

Tehran and Washington had held five rounds of indirect negotiations mediated by Oman prior to the 12-day air war, with US demands that Tehran drop its domestic uranium enrichment programme reaching a dead end.

Last week, Araqchi reiterated Tehran's position that it would not agree to a nuclear deal that prevents it from enriching uranium and would refuse to discuss extra-nuclear topics such as its ballistic missile programme.