His comments follow speculation over whether the U.S. government and Israel are gearing up for a pre-emptive strike on Iran, in order to prevent the country from obtaining nuclear weapons.
“Any act against Iran will lead to the eradication of the Zionist entity,” he told a news conference in Doha, Qatar.
“The Zionist entity and the U.S. government would hit any country in the region whenever they are able to do so, and they will not wait to get permission. But (at the moment) they cannot,” he said.
“Iran has the ability to retaliate, strong and hard.”
Ahmadinejad’s strident comments are likely to embarrass long-time U.S. ally Qatar. The Iranian president's remarks were made at a joint news conference with the country's ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
Responding to questions from the audience, Ahmandinejad warned that Western-sponsored peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority were “doomed” to fail.
He also took the opportunity to question the accepted narrative over the Sept. 11 attacks. “Nobody knows who the main perpetrators of that act were,” he told the conference.
