Tehran pledged on Friday an "immediate response" to any move against it by the United States and European countries at the International Atomic Energy Agency, while Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel preferred the diplomatic path in order to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Bennett, who met with the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, today, Friday, added that Israel reserves the right to defend itself and act against Iran in order to curb its nuclear program if the international community fails within the relevant time frame.
Grossi's lightning visit to Israel comes against the background of her filing a complaint against Iran, which the agency will soon consider.
For his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said - in a telephone conversation with the European Union's foreign policy coordinator Josep Borrell - that the visit of the Director of the Atomic Energy Agency to Israel on the eve of the meeting of the Board of Governors contradicts the neutrality of the agency and its technical mission.
A 'Durable and Strong' Agreement
Abdullahian added that the preparation of a draft resolution by Washington and the European trio at the Atomic Energy Agency is a hasty, unconstructive measure and contrary to diplomacy, noting that the draft resolution at the Atomic Energy Agency will make negotiations complicated and more difficult.
The Iranian foreign minister told the European Commissioner that any US-European political move in the IAEA would face an appropriate, effective and urgent Iranian response.
Abdullahian pointed out that Tehran has the willingness and will to continue the nuclear negotiations on a realistic track until a result is achieved, and that Iran is serious about reaching a good, lasting and strong agreement in the Vienna negotiations.
On the other hand, the Iranian news agency quoted Ali Bagheri, the chief Iranian negotiator, as saying that "the Zionists can only imagine attacking Iran in dreams."
In an interview with the Norwegian NPK channel, in response to a question about Iran's response to any possible Israeli attack, Bagheri added that "if the Zionists saw such a dream, they would never wake up from it," as he put it.