'Iran will respond to any attack'

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has highlighted Iran's defense capabilities, saying that the country would respond forcefully to any foreign attack.

"At the moment, Iran has the greatest defense capability in its history. Whoever wants to attack our country will meet with our very firm response," Mehmanparast told journalists in Warsaw on Friday.

He added that Iran's opponents are well aware of this fact and this has seriously diminished the possibility of war.

"Our adversary completely understands that should it attack our country, it will itself become the subject of a great tragedy. This is why the possibility of war is very, very weak," Mehmanparast noted.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman also criticized the West over the sanctions it has imposed on Iran over its nuclear energy program, describing them as "completely illegal and unjustified because our nation has not committed any crime."

He played down the effect of sanctions on the Iranian economy and pointed out that they have made Iran "increasingly self-sufficient in many economic sectors" and boosted its economy.

"If we were to make light of it, we could thank the US and European states for imposing sanctions because they have actually spurred economic growth," Mehmanparast noted, adding, "When growth in many Western countries is either negative or around zero, in Iran we have 6.2 percent growth in GDP."


/PressTV/