Iran in warning to US and Israel

by Sanjay Jha | July 8, 2008 at 07:09 am | 166 views | add comment

Eye on Prophecy: Iran, Israel, & the US (part 1)

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A top clerics in Iran has accused Israel to pressurise US officials to attack Iran and warned that such an attack would be bad for Tel Aviv regime. He

Last week, the top US military officer said opening up a new front in the Middle East - after Iraq and Afghanistan - would be "extremely stressful" for US forces.

Iran will strike Israel and the US navy in the Gulf if it is attacked over its nuclear programme, a senior Iranian official has warned.

"The first US shot on Iran would set the United States' vital interests in the world on fire," said Ali Shirazi, an aide to Iran's supreme leader.

"Tel Aviv and the US fleet in the Persian Gulf would be the targets that would be set on fire," he said.

Tehran denies Western claims that it is seeking to build a nuclear weapon.

It has repeatedly rejected demands to halt enriching uranium, which can be used as fuel for power plants or material for weapons if refined to a greater degree.

The European Union imposed new sanctions on Iran in June.

But it has offered a package of incentives to persuade Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.

Iran has said it is prepared to negotiate with major world powers, but insisted the talks must address Iran's nuclear rights.

No 'bullying'

Ali Shirazi is a cleric working as representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the naval unit of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

His comments come amid reports of possible US or Israeli plans to strike Iran's nuclear facilities.