Azernews.Az

Iran has vowed to "retaliate" against any attack after Israel's prime minister called for a "red line" to prevent the Islamic republic from acquiring a nuclear bomb, Radio Liberty reported.

Iran's deputy UN ambassador Eshagh al-Habib told the UN General Assembly on September 27 that the Islamic Republic "is strong enough to defend itself and reserves its full right to retaliate with full force against any attack."

Al-Habib added that Israel had made "baseless and absurd allegations" against Iran's "exclusively peaceful" nuclear program.

In his speech at the UN General Assembly earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized the need for a "red line" past which Iran could expect to be attacked for pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

"At this late hour, there is only one way to peacefully prevent Iran from getting atomic bombs and that's by placing a clear red line on Iran's nuclear weapons program," the Israeli leader told the General Assembly.

In recent weeks, Israeli leaders have repeatedly warned that Israel would carry out a unilateral military strike if Iran got close to making a nuclear bomb.

Netanyahu said "Red lines don't lead to war; red lines prevent war."

He said that by the end of summer 2013 Iran would have sufficient enriched uranium to be on the "brink" of making a nuclear bomb.