TEHRAN (Press TV) - Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi says the United States does not dare to attack Iran as it knows well that the Islamic Republic stands fully prepared to defend itself against any aggression.
"We are completely ready to defend the country and the Americans are aware of this; therefore, I believe that they do not dare to attack us and that is why we believe that no war will break out in the region,” Araqchi said in an interview with Russia's RT Arabic television news network on Tuesday.
Tensions have been simmering between the U.S. and Iran since May 2018, when Washington abruptly pulled out of a multilateral deal on Tehran’s nuclear program.
The White House then moved to unleash a campaign of "maximum” economic pressure, coupled with military provocations and threats, against the Islamic Republic.
Earlier this year, the tensions saw a sharp rise as the U.S. and its allies blamed Tehran for a set of suspicious attacks on oil tankers in the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf. Iran rejected the claims, and said those attacks appear more like false-flag operations aimed at framing the Islamic Republic.
Washington, in June, sent an advanced RQ-4 Global Hawk reconnaissance drone on a spying mission into Iranian airspace, prompting Iran’s air defenses to shoot down the intruding aircraft.