Iran Threatens Israel if U.S. Attacks

An Iranian technician explains to a clergyman and university students about an argon ion laser machine, bottom, during an exhibition of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, at the Qom University in the city of Qom 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 2, 2006. Iran has discovered new deposits of uranium and is continuing its nuclear enrichment program despite international protests, a top nuclear official said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)  

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer

Yahoo News

April 2, 2006

TEHRAN, Iran -Iran's first target would be Israel in any response to a U.S. attack, a Revolutionary Guards commander said Tuesday, reinforcing the Iranian president's past call for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

"We have announced that wherever (in Iran) America does make any mischief, the first place we target will be Israel," the Iranian Student News Agency quoted Gen. Mohammad Ebrahim Dehghani as saying.

Dehghani, a top commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, also said Israel was not prepared to go to war against Iran.

"We will definitely resist ... U.S. B-52 (bombers)," Dehghani was quoted as saying.

On Tuesday, Israeli elder statesman Shimon Peres called on Iran to scrap its nuclear program and warned: "Remember that Israel is exceptionally strong and knows how to defend itself."

President Bush has said a military option remains on the table if Iran does not agree to international demands for it to stop enriching uranium and open its nuclear program to inspections. However, Bush said he wants to solve the dispute through diplomacy.

Dehghani, who served as a spokesman during Revolutionary Guards war games last month, said the exercises were held ahead of schedule to send a message to the U.S. and its allies against any plans for a military strike.

"We were due to organize the maneuvers in May but because of timing conditions and issues related to nuclear energy and upon the recommendation of Mr. Larijani, it was held 40 days sooner than planned," he said. Ali Larijani is Iran's top nuclear negotiator.

Friday marked the deadline set by the U.N. Security Council for Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment program. Council members are now considering the next steps, which could include punishing sanctions though Russia and China are on record as opposing that option.

The semiofficial student news agency gave no further details on Dehghani's remarks or where he made them.

Israel's army chief, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said in an interview published Tuesday that the world has the military might to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. He also said that if Iran does obtain nuclear capability, it will constitute a threat to Israel's existence.

When asked if the world can, militarily, stop Iran's nuclear program, Halutz told the Maariv newspaper "Yes, yes. Regarding whether or not the world can, the answer is yes."

Questioned on whether Israel would be involved in such a military operation against its top enemy, Halutz said "We are part of the world."


Links:

Iran prepared for US attack Video

May 2 - Iranian minister says his country faces possibility of U.S. attack as Iran prepares to confront UN powers over its controversial nuclear programme.
That's not the only defiant statement coming from the Iranian government today. Iran also threatened to attack Israel in response to any ''evil'' act by the United States and said it had enriched uranium to a level close to the maximum compatible with civilian use in power stations.
The statements were issued shortly before world powers meet in Paris to discuss the next steps after Tehran rejected a U.N. call to halt uranium enrichment.


World powers discuss Iran video

May 2 - World powers meet in Paris to plan their next moves after Tehran rejected a U.N. call to halt uranium enrichment.
Senior officials from the U.N. Security Council's permanent members, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany, discussed how to curb an Iranian program that Western nations say conceals a drive for atomic warheads.
Iran refuses to back down from what it calls its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.
Washington has not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails. On Tuesday (May 2), Iran threatened to attack Israel in response to any "evil" act by the United States.
Chelsea Edwards reports.

SOUNDBITE: Iranian Ambassador Seyyed Ali Moujani, saying (Farsi):
''We think that logic, reason, dialogue and the respect of rights within the non-proliferation treaty are the keys to solving the current problem.''


Albright: US should talk to Iran Video

May 2 - Former Secretary of State Albright said that Iraq may be the biggest US policy blunder ever.
She also told Reuters TV that the US should open talks with Iran on nuclear issues.
Deborah Lutterbeck reports from Washington.

FEATURED SPEAKER: Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.



Iran Rejects Statement It Would Hit Israel


Wang Guangya, Chinese Ambassador to United Nations arrives at a closed Security Council consultations on the nuclear program of Iran at United Nations headquarters in New York Wednesday, May, 3, 2006 (AP Photo/David Karp)  

By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer

Yahoo News

May 3, 2006

UNITED NATIONS - The Iranian military on Wednesday rejected a statement from a top Revolutionary Guards commander that Israel would be Iran's first target in response to any U.S. attack, an Iranian news agency reported.

Brig. Gen. Alireza Afshar, deputy to the chief of Iran's military staff, said the statement by Mohammad Ebrahim Dehghani "is his personal view and has no validity as far as the Iranian military officials are concerned," according to the Entekhab News Agency.

A translation of Afshar's remarks was provided to The Associated Press.

Dehghani was quoted by the Iranian Student News Agency on Tuesday as saying: "We have announced that wherever (in Iran) America does make any mischief, the first place we target will be Israel."

His threat came after the Iranian president's call for Israel to be "wiped off the map" and added to international concerns over Iran's suspect nuclear program.

Israeli elder statesman Shimon Peres reacted to Dehghani's warning with a call for Iran to scrap its nuclear program and a warning of his own: "Remember that Israel is exceptionally strong and knows how to defend itself."

The Entekhab News Agency said Afshar was asked about Dehghani's comment at a book exhibition in Tehran.

"Mr. Dehghani was the spokesman of a military maneuver which ended on April 8, and his statement is his personal view and has no validity as far as the Iranian military officials are concerned," Afshar was quoted as saying.

Dehghani, who served as a spokesman during a large-scale war game by Iran's Revolutionary Guards last month, was described in the Iranian Student News Agency report as a general and by Entekhab as a rear admiral.

Dehghani told the Student News Agency that the military exercises were held ahead of schedule to send a message to the United States and its allies that they shouldn't plan any military strikes during their faceoff with the Tehran regime over its nuclear ambitions.

President Bush has said a military option remains on the table if Iran does not agree to international demands to stop enriching uranium and open its nuclear program to intrusive inspections. But Bush has stressed that Washington wants to solve the dispute through diplomacy.

The United States, Britain and France are expected to circulate a Security Council resolution making mandatory the council's earlier demand that Iran halt uranium enrichment. They want the resolution adopted under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which would mean it could be enforced by sanctions or military action.

But Russia and China, while concerned about Iran's nuclear program, say there is no evidence that Tehran is trying to produce nuclear weapons and oppose putting the resolution under Chapter 7.


Annan urges direct U.S.-Iran talks Video

May 5 - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan encouraged the U.S. to hold direct talks with Iran and expressed hope that an agreement could be reached.
Iran has defied repeated UN requests to cease its uranium enrichment and nuclear research and development activities. The country now faces the prospect of a UN Security Council resolution next week that could open the door to economic sanctions, and possibly military action.
Jon Decker reports.

FEAUTURED SPEAKERS:

Michael O'Hanlon, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Nile Gardiner, Senior Fellow, Heritage Foundation


Iran warns UN of 'confrontation' over nuclear programme


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran has vowed that it would refuse to comply with any UN Security Council demand to halt its disputed nuclear programme and warned the crisis was leading the two sides towards a "confrontation".(AFP/File/Behrouz Mehri)  

May 7, 2006

TEHRAN (AFP) -Iran has vowed that it would refuse to comply with any UN Security Council demand to halt its disputed nuclear programme and warned the crisis was leading the two sides towards a "confrontation".

Asked how Iran would respond if the Council adopted a tough resolution drafted by Britain and France, foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Sunday that Iran "will certainly reject it and cannot carry it out".

"We will not accept any resolution that is against our rights," he told reporters.

The two European powers, backed by the United States, have asked the Council to approve a text that would legally require Iran to freeze all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities.

Iran says it only wants to enrich uranium to make nuclear fuel, though the process can be extended to make weapons.

"Any action by the Security Council will have a negative influence on our cooperation with the agency," Asefi told reporters, repeating Iran's threat to halt International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections.

"The involvement of the Security Council will direct the path of cooperation towards confrontation," he said, warning that the Security Council would not be able to enforce its demands.

"It's obvious that the Security Council should not take any action that it is not capable of dealing with later, because we will not refrain from our rights," Asefi said.

"A suspension and pause (of enrichment) is not on the agenda at all, and the Security Council should not do something that will get it into trouble later on."

Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also signalled Iran could quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the pressure mounted.

"If the signature of a treaty threatens the rights of a nation, it has no validity for that nation," the ISNA news agency quoted him as telling a gathering of members of Iran's Basij militia.

Iranian leaders have already signalled Iran could quit the NPT -- the cornerstone of the global effort against the spread of nuclear weapons -- if the country comes under more pressure to halt sensitive nuclear fuel work.

Iran argues nuclear fuel work is authorised by the NPT, but the country is accused of seeking to exploit this loophole in the treaty.

The hardline-controlled parliament also stepped in by warning it could force the government to definitively put an end to tough IAEA inspections and leave the NPT.

"Should the UN secretary general and Security Council members not fulfill their crucial duties in settling arguments, there will be no choice for the Majlis but to demand the government withdraw the ratification of the additional protocol," said a letter signed by more than 160 deputies.

It also said the Majlis could "put on the agenda the examination of article 10 of the NPT, which is about leaving the NPT".

The moves from Tehran come a day before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hosts her counterparts from six major powers in a bid to find a consensus amid continued opposition to the draft from veto-wielding UN Security Council members.

Russia and China adamantly oppose sanctions and the use of force against Iran, their key trading partner, with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak saying the draft UN resolution "requires major changes".

Moscow and Beijing object to the draft's reference to Chapter Seven of the UN charter and its suggestion that the Iranian nuclear program constitutes a threat to international peace and security.

Chapter Seven can authorize economic sanctions or military action as a last resort.

US President George W. Bush reiterated that he preferred a "diplomatic solution" to the conflict over Iran's nuclear ambitions and threats against Israel, but said that "all options should be placed on the table".

When Ahmadinejad says "that he wants to destroy Israel, the world should take that very seriously," Bush said. The Iranian president has repeatedly called for Israel to be "wiped from the map".

"It's a specific threat against an ally of the United States and Germany," Bush told Bild am Sonntag.


Peres warns Iran, says it could also be 'wiped out'

May 8, 2006

By News Agencies

Haaretz.com


Shimon Peres: Iran is basically
a danger to the world. (Nir Keidar/Archive) 


Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Monday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, should bear in mind that his own country could also be destroyed.

"Those who threaten to destroy are in danger of being destroyed," Peres told Channel 1 television later Monday.

In an interview to Reuters, Peres said Iran was mocking the international community's attempts to resolve the crisis over its nuclear ambitions and that the credibility of the United Nations Security Council was on the line.

In what Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has described as a threat that must be taken seriously, Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be destroyed.

"They want to wipe out Israel... Now when it comes to destruction, Iran too can be destroyed [but] I don't suggest to say an eye for an eye," Peres told Reuters.

"Israel would defend itself under any condition but we don't look upon it as an Iranian-Israeli conflict exclusively... [Iran] is basically a danger to the world, not just to us."

Iranian officials have argued Ahmadinejad's comments on Israel did not constitute a threat and said its armed forces would retaliate for any attack.

Iran has been referred to the UN Security Council over
fears it is building nuclear arms, a charge it denies. The
United States says it would prefer a diplomatic solution to the crisis but warns sanctions and military strikes are options.

Israel, which lies within range of Iranian ballistic missiles, has also refused to rule out military action as a last resort. Israel is believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal.

Peres said he believed Iran would take a unified international front seriously, but was making a "mockery" of the world because it saw divisions in how countries wanted to react.

The Security Council had to act, added Nobel peace laureate Peres, who was awarded the prize along with slain former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for helping negotiate the 1993 Oslo peace accords.

"If the crucial moment will come and they are incapable of taking or making a policy... then they endanger their existence as an important world body," he said.

An Iranian official said Monday that Ahmadinejad had written to U.S. President George W. Bush in an unprecedented attempt to ease tensions.

That followed Iran's stance Sunday that it would reject any UN esolution demanding it halt work on atomic fuel.

A draft Security Council resolution, fashioned by Britain and France and backed by the U.S. will ask that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment activities.

Peres warned of a nuclear arms race if Iran produced a nuclear weapon.

"If Iran becomes nuclear many other countries will follow suit... and whoever will have a conflict will produce a bomb, and finally some bombs will reach the hands of terror," the vice premier and Kadima MK said.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said last week that the world is capable of destroying the Iranian nuclear installations.

In 1981, Israel launched an air strike to destroy Iraq's unfinished nuclear reactor. Experts have said such a pinpointed strike against Iran would not be possible, because Tehran's nuclear facilities are intentionally dispersed throughout the country, some of them are hidden underground.