Special report: Iran Nuclear Crisis
Iran launches military
exercise
Iran replies to six-nation
proposal
TEHRAN, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Iran will give
"destructive" response if its nuclear program is attacked by the arch foe
Israel, a Foreign Ministry spokesman vowed here Sunday.
"If Israel takes such a stupid step, the answer of
Iran will be rapid, firm and destructive," Mohammad-Ali Hosseini told a press
conference.
"Israel does not have the means and the capability to
dare threaten Iran," he said, adding "if it commits such stupidity, the Islamic
republic and its defenders will give a destructive response within a
second."Hosseini, meanwhile, confirmed Iran's plan to install 3,000 centrifuges
for uranium enrichment by March 2007.
Asked whether Tehran would execute its plan to
install 3,000 centrifuges by the end of the current Iranian year, which ends on
March 20, 2007, the spokesman answered, "Iranian officials and experts are still
seeking to carry out this (plan)."Iran has so far built two cascades of 164
centrifuges for uranium enrichment, which can be used to make nuclear fuel or,
in much higher grades, the core of an atom bomb.
Hosseini's remarks came after Israeli Deputy Defense
Minister Ephraim Sneh told the Jerusalem Post on Friday that he considered
military attack against Iran as a "last resort", which have sparked speculations
that Israel might be planning to use military means to destroy Iran's
controversial nuclear facilities.
The United States has been seeking to impose sanctions on
Iran through the UN Security Council on the grounds that Tehran is developing a
nuclear-weapon program under the guise of a civilian-use program.
Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful
purposes and voiced hope for talks on the nuclear standoff. But the Islamic
Republic rejected a prerequisite of suspending nuclear work for such talks.
Related:
Iran says to firmly respond to
military threat or attack
TEHRAN, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- A senior officer of
Iran's armed forces said on Saturday that his country would fight back any
possible military threat or attack, the state television reported.
"The armed forces of Iran would firmly respond to any
military and threatening move, our forces understand the different threats and
have the capacity and capability to confront them," Brigadier General Ali Fazli,
spokesman for Iran's latest drills, was quoted as saying.
The officer made the remarks just one day after
Israeli deputy defense minister refused to rule out military strike against
Iran's controversial nuclear program. Full story
JERUSALEM, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert told the American weekly Newsweek on Saturday that Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has to be stopped, Israel's newspaper Yedioth Aharonot on
its website.
The newspaper, citing Olmert, who told the American
magazine ahead of his trip to Washington, said that "Ahmadinejad is a man who is
ready to commit crimes against humanity."
"This is the first time in many years that the
official leader of a major nation with more than 70 million citizens has talked
publicly and officially of the liquidation of another nation that is a member of
the United Nations," Olmert was quoted as saying. Full story
