Newly appointed Iranian defence minister Mehrdad Akhlaghi threatened on Sunday to inflict “enormous damage” on the United States and its allies in the Middle East if Washington resumes its military campaign against the country.

“People can rest assured that they will most likely not dare to attack us,” Akhlaghi told reporters shortly after securing parliament’s vote of confidence. “If they (the US) do, they themselves and the region will suffer enormous damage.”

Iranian lawmakers had earlier approved Akhlaghi’s appointment as the country’s new defence minister, after his predecessor was killed on the first day of the war with the United States.

“Members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament) today gave a vote of confidence to Mehrdad Akhlaghi, the nominee for minister of defence and armed forces logistics,” state television reported, nearly eight months after the initial US-Israeli strikes that sparked the conflict.

According to the government website, Akhlaghi “was elected to the post with 237 votes in favour”, out of a total of 277 votes cast.

The veteran defence official replaces Aziz Nasirzadeh, who was killed in a US-Israeli attack on a leadership compound on February 28, alongside former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior military commanders.

“If I receive parliament’s vote of confidence, responsibility for the Ministry of Defence will fall to me at a sensitive juncture,” Akhlaghi said before the vote, according to the ISNA news agency.

“Under such circumstances, defending the country requires an accurate understanding of the environment, an understanding of the logic behind developments, the identification of influential trends, and preparedness to face different possible futures,” he added.

Although he does not hold a military rank, Akhlaghi has worked in the defence ministry for 42 years and has headed the Iranian Defence Industries Organisation, the state’s weapons manufacturer, since 2013.

The United Nations sanctioned Akhlaghi in 2007 over his alleged involvement in nuclear or ballistic missile activities