Iran will respond immediately and decisively if its nuclear sites are attacked which would lead to an "all-out war in the region," Tehran's foreign minister told Al Jazeera TV in an interview aired on Friday, Reuters reports.
Israel and the U.S. launching a military attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would be "one of the biggest historical mistakes the U.S. could make," Abbas Araqchi said through a translator.
Concerns have grown among Iran's top decision-makers that U.S. President Donald Trump might in his second term empower Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike Iran's nuclear sites while further tightening U.S. sanctions on its oil industry.
In 2018, then-President Trump reneged on the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and a group of world powers and re-imposed harsh U.S. sanctions as part of his "maximum pressure" policy against the country.
In response, Tehran breached the deal in several ways including by accelerating its uranium enrichment.
Trump has vowed to return to the policy he pursued in his previous term that sought to use economic pressure to force the country to negotiate a deal on its nuclear programme, ballistic missile programme and regional activities.
