Quds chief says US ‘teeth will be crushed’ if it acts against Iran

VIENNA/JERUSALEM: The commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force on Thursday warned the United States its “teeth will be crushed” if Washington makes the slightest move against Tehran, state media said, as indirect talks are being held to rescue a 2015 nuclear accord.

“This nation’s power and capacity ... has reached such a level that if you (US) make the slightest move, your teeth will be crushed in your mouth,” Quds force chief Esmail Ghaani was quoted by Iranian media as saying. “The time is long past when you could do whatever you wanted.”

Israel calls to stop Iran nuke talks immediately Israel on Thursday urged world powers to halt nuclear talks with Iran immediately, citing a UN watchdog’s announcement that Tehran has started producing enriched uranium with more advanced centrifuges.

“Iran is carrying out nuclear blackmail as a negotiating tactic, and this should be answered by the immediate halt to negotiations and the implementation of tough steps by the world powers,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office quoted him as saying in a call with US secretary of state Antony Blinken.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday that Iran had started the process of enriching uranium to up to 20% purity with one cascade, or cluster, of 166 advanced IR-6 machines at its Fordow plant, dug into a mountain.

Iran and major powers are trying, in talks in Vienna, to revive a 2015 deal under which Tehran limited its nuclear programme in exchange for relief from US, EU and UN economic sanctions.