Iran on Monday vowed to defend its nuclear program and condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that Jerusalem “can and will finish the job” against Tehran’s “axis of terror,” saying that Israel and the US “cannot do a damn thing.”

Netanyahu made the comment at a joint press conference in Jerusalem on Sunday with visiting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said Iran was “behind every terrorist group” in the region and that a nuclear Iran could “never happen.”

Responding to Netanyahu, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that “threatening others is both a gross violation of international law and the United Nations charter.”

“When it comes to a country like Iran, [Israel and the US] cannot do a damn thing,” he added.

“You cannot threaten Iran on one hand and claim to support dialogue on the other hand,” Baghaei said according to state media.

Baghaei said Iran had defended its nuclear program and would not hesitate to continue doing so.

“Iran’s peaceful nuclear program is ongoing, and has been for the last three decades, based on Iran’s rights as a member in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,” he said. “Definitely we will not show any weakness in this regard.”

Iran, whose leaders are sworn to Israel’s destruction, has formally rejected nuclear weapons. However, it has continued to advance its nuclear program, accelerating the enrichment of uranium to up to 60 percent........

© The Times of Israel