Iran denies remarks on war attributed to Iranian FM

TEHRAN, Nov. 5 (MNA) – In a statement issued on Friday, the Iranian Embassy in Ankara denied the remarks recently attributed to Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi. On Thursday, the English-language Turkish newspaper the Hürriyet Daily News, in a report headlined “Iran is ‘always ready for war’,” quoted Salehi as saying that if attacked, Iran would impose “a cruel response on all nations in the region that seek to insult Iran.” It also claimed that Salehi had said, “Israel is constantly threatening Iran, this is nothing new for us. But we are sure of ourselves, we can defend our country.” Following is the text of the Iranian Embassy statement: The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Ankara denies the remarks attributed to our Iranian foreign minister which were published in the November 3 edition of the Hürriyet Daily News under the headline: “Iran is ‘always ready for war’” and announces that the Islamic Republic of Iran has never started a war during the history but (we) have always maintained our defense preparedness to defend (the country), which is the natural and legitimate right of every nation and country. The remarks that the respected foreign minister had made were meant to explain the aforementioned policy. The reporter of the daily in question has published his own interpretation of the announcement of this principled and permanent policy by the respected minister during the interview with an inappropriate headline and with the aim of relating it to Zionist media outlets’ propaganda (against Iran). Hereby, (the embassy) expresses regret (over the issue) and denies the remarks attributed to the respected foreign minister.