Iran's Supreme Leader warned Sunday that any Israeli attack would be answered with a "lightning" response by the Islamic Republic and suggested Iran's nuclear program cannot be curtailed by Western sanctions.
The remarks by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei echoed previous hard-line positions by Iran, but take on added resonance amid talks with the United States and five other world powers. Western leaders hope for a diplomatic accord that would ease concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions, while Israeli officials say they leave all options open to try to derail Iran's uranium enrichment.
The West fears Iran could one day produce weapons-grade material. Khamenei called the claims of a secret weapons program lies and repeated Iran's statements that it only seeks reactors for energy and medical research.
Khamenei put Israel on notice that any military action would bring swift consequences.
"Should they take any wrong step, any inappropriate move, it will fall on their heads like lightning," he warned in a speech marking the 23rd anniversary of the death of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she's not drawing any conclusions about the latest harsh words from Iran or how they might affect upcoming nuclear talks in Moscow.(Google)
Clinton says leaders often say things for domestic purposes, and she hopes Iran will work toward a diplomatic solution.
Thanks: sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/03/MNB51OS6N2.DTL
The remarks by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei echoed previous hard-line positions by Iran, but take on added resonance amid talks with the United States and five other world powers. Western leaders hope for a diplomatic accord that would ease concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions, while Israeli officials say they leave all options open to try to derail Iran's uranium enrichment.
The West fears Iran could one day produce weapons-grade material. Khamenei called the claims of a secret weapons program lies and repeated Iran's statements that it only seeks reactors for energy and medical research.
Khamenei put Israel on notice that any military action would bring swift consequences.
"Should they take any wrong step, any inappropriate move, it will fall on their heads like lightning," he warned in a speech marking the 23rd anniversary of the death of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she's not drawing any conclusions about the latest harsh words from Iran or how they might affect upcoming nuclear talks in Moscow.(Google)
Clinton says leaders often say things for domestic purposes, and she hopes Iran will work toward a diplomatic solution.
Thanks: sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/03/MNB51OS6N2.DTL
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