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Iran president says Israel would not dare attack
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad believes neither Israel nor the United States would dare attack the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program, a Spanish newspaper quoted him on Wednesday as saying.The Iranian president was responding to a question about an article in Britain's Sunday Times on January 7 that said Israel had secret plans to destroy Iran's uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons. "They well know the power of the Iranian people. I don't think they would ever dare to attack us, neither them nor their masters. They won't do such a stupid thing," Ahmadinejad told El Mundo during a visit to Nicaragua, referring to Israel. Conservative Iranian leaders, such as Ahmadinejad, see Israel as a stooge of the United States in the Middle East. Iran does not recognize Israel and Ahmadinejad has previously called for it to be "wiped off the map." "That regime wants to hurt the Iranian people. They have many dreams but they are not all powerful," said the Iranian leader. Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, echoed the president's comments in Tehran when asked about the possibility of an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. "We have considered all the options and don't take these things that they say too seriously. They have enough brains not to carry out such mindless acts," Larijani was quoted as saying by Iran's official IRNA news agency on Wednesday. Israel has refused to rule out pre-emptive military action against Iran on the lines of its 1981 air strike against an atomic reactor in Iraq, although many analysts believe Iran's nuclear facilities are too much for Israel to destroy alone. Asked about whether he wants to see Israel destroyed, Ahmadinejad avoided a direct answer, but seemed to refer to an earlier statement in which had said that Israel would be wiped out "just as the Soviet Union was wiped out." "Where is the Soviet Union?" he told El Mundo, "It has disappeared." The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously last month to impose sanctions on Iran to try to stop its uranium enrichment program, which Tehran insists is peaceful. The United States, which suspects Iran hopes to develop nuclear weapons, says it wants a diplomatic solution to the deadlock but military force remains an option. Israel has said it will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-01-17 |
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