Parliament speaker issues warning to the West over Iran's nuclear program

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Iran's parliament speaker warned the West on Wednesday that it may face "a done deal" if it provokes Iran, a stern hint that Tehran could build nuclear weapons if attacked. The speaker, Ali Larijani, who was once Iran's top nuclear negotiator, also warned that a "short opportunity is left" for a deal with Iran over its nuclear program that the US and some of its allies fear is aimed at producing atomic bomb. Iran has long denied it intends to build a nuclear weapon, saying its program is meant only to generate electricity. Larijani - one of Iran's most powerful politicians - did not directly warn that Iran could change its intentions, but his vague comment appeared aimed at raising that possibility. Larijani pointed to recent comments by Mohamed ElBaradei, the UN nuclear watchdog chief, who said in an interview last week that a military strike on Iran could turn the Mideast into a "ball of fire" and "prompt Iran, even if it didn't produce a nuclear weapon today, to resort to an emergency plan to produce a nuclear weapon."