MUNICH, Germany -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Israel’s prime minister’s fiercely critical remarks about Iran to a high-profile security conference do not deserve "the dignity of a response."
Zarif was speaking on February 18 at the annual Munich Security Conference, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said there were “striking similarities” between today’s Iran and Nazi Germany.
Netanyahu also warned that Iran should “not test Israel’s resolve.” Not mentioning Netanyahu by name, Zarif told the audience that earlier in the morning they had witnessed a “cartoonish circus” that “does not even deserve the dignity of a response.”
During Netanyahu’s address, the Israeli prime minister brandished what he said was a piece of an Iranian drone shot down by Israel over its territory earlier this month.
Tensions between Iran and Israel spiked earlier this month after an Israeli warplane was shot down as it returned from a bombing operation against what the military described as both Syrian and Iranian targets in Syria.
Zarif also harshly criticized the United States’ involvement in the Middle East, including its military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. With reporting by Reuters and AFP