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Iran warns Israel, US
08/07/2008 18:11 - (SA)
Tehran - Iran will hit Tel Aviv, US shipping in the Gulf and American interests around the world if it is attacked over its disputed nuclear activities, an aide to Iran's Supreme Leader was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
"The first bullet fired by America at Iran will be followed by Iran burning down its vital interests around the globe," the students news agency ISNA quoted Ali Shirazi as saying in a speech to Revolutionary Guards.
The United States and its allies suspect Iran is trying to build nuclear bombs. Tehran says its programme is peaceful.
Leaders of the Group of Eight rich countries expressed serious concern at the proliferation risks posed by Iran's nuclear programme.
In a statement issued after G8 leaders met in Hokkaido, Japan, the grouping urged Tehran to suspend all enrichment-related activities.
"We also urge Iran to fully cooperate with the IAEA," the G8 said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Incentives package
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said earlier that major world powers had decided to send European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana to Iran for talks on an incentives package they offered last month to induce Tehran to change its nuclear policy.
Iran formally replied on Friday to the offer by the US, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany.
France said Iran's response had ignored the world powers' demand for a suspension of uranium enrichment before talks on implementing the package - a condition rejected on Monday as "illegitimate" by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Shirazi's comments intensified a war of words that has raised fears of military confrontation and helped boost world oil prices to record highs.
"The Zionist regime is pressuring White House officials to attack Iran. If they commit such a stupidity, Tel Aviv and US shipping in the Persian Gulf will be Iran's first targets and they will be burned," Shirazi was quoted as saying.
A 'severe reaction'
Shirazi, a mid-level cleric, is Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative to the Revolutionary Guards.
In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesperson, Mark Regev, declined to comment on the threat to hit Tel Aviv, saying only: "Shirazi's words speak for themselves."
Israel, believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed power, has vowed to prevent Iran from acquiring an atomic bomb. The United States says it wants to resolve the dispute by diplomacy but has not ruled out military action.
In April, Israel's Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who is a former army general and defence minister, told Israeli media: "An Iranian attack will prompt a severe reaction from Israel, which will destroy the Iranian nation."
- Reuters
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