Iran prepared to defend against Israel attack: Ahmadinejad NEW YORK (Reuters) - Iran does not take Israeli threats of attack seriously, but is prepared to defend itself, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday. "Fundamentally we do not take seriously the threats of the Zionists ... we have all the defensive means at our disposal and we are ready to defend ourselves," Ahmadinejad told reporters in New York, where he is due to attend the U.N. General Assembly. "While we are fully ready to defend ourselves, we do not take such threats seriously," he said. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a brigadier general in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was quoted as saying on Sunday that Iran could launch a pre-emptive strike on Israel if it was sure the Jewish state was preparing to attack it. Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Doina Chiacu