Iran cautions Israel against attacking

Says it will retaliate for any military action; claims Israel trying to damage Iran-IAEA relations.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
iran nuclear new 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
iran nuclear new 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
Iran's Foreign Ministry warned Israel on Sunday it would retaliate against any military attack and accused Israelis of trying to damage relations between Teheran and the United Nations' nuclear watchdog. "The Zionist regime (Israel) is less than nothing to pose any kind of threat to Iran," ministry spokesman Muhammad Ali Hosseini told reporters Sunday when questioned about recent comments on Teheran's nuclear program made by Israeli officials. It was not clear what Israeli threat Hosseini was referring to, but his statement came as Iran continues to defy international demands that it suspends uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for a nuclear reactor or fissile material for a bomb. Israel has said it views Iran as a strong threat, but most analysts think any Israeli military operation is unlikely at this point Hosseini warned Israel not to consider military action. "In case it does, it will be faced with unprecedented response from Iran," Hosseini said, without elaborating. He said Israeli threats were geared at preventing a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear standoff. "Israelis many times have raised such things in order to undermine cooperation between Iran and the (UN) International Atomic Energy Agency," he said. Iran said Wednesday it has stepped up uranium enrichment activities by fully running 3,000 centrifuges at its nuclear plant in the central city of Natanz. It would take some 54,000 centrifuges to fuel a reactor.