Iran threatened Friday a "swift and final" response to an Israeli attack.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Moscow, Monday, October 24.
Photo: AP
Iranian Defense Minister Mustafa Mohammed Najar said that while Iran's policy is one of defense, if it were attacked, it would respond harshly.
On Sunday, Maj.-Gen. (Res.) Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry's foreign policy department, denied in an interview to Israel Radio that Israel planned to attack Iran.
While a military operation against Iran's nuclear facilities could not be ruled out, Gilad stressed, Israel was a partner in international diplomatic efforts to address the threat from Teheran.
The Iranian government's threats follow the German Bild newspaper's Friday report that Iran is developing longer-range missiles with technology from North Korea and Russia. The report cited information from Germany's foreign intelligence service.
According to Bild, Iran has bought materials for 18 missiles from North Korea and is using technology from Russian submarine-launched missiles to extend their range to 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles).
"Germany and other parts of Europe could be directly affected by the Iranian missile program in the medium to long-term," the newspaper quoted from what it said was a new report from Germany's Federal Intelligence Service.
A spokesman for the spy agency declined to comment Friday.
Earlier this week, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Iran was approaching the point where it would have the technological know-how to build nuclear weapons.
According to Halutz, it is possible that Iran would be able to complete building a bomb as early as 2008 or as far as 2015.
