Ahmadinejad expects US to attack 'at least two' Mideast countries soon
From The Daily Star:
Iran expects the US to launch a military strike on “at least two countries” in the Middle East in the next three months, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told state-run Press TV, as Iran vowed Tuesday to press ahead with its nuclear program even as it expressed readiness to resume talks on the controversial issue.
In an interview recorded on Monday, Ahmadinejad did not specify whether he thought Iran itself would be attacked nor did he say what intelligence led him to expect such a move.
The United States and Israel have refused to rule out military action against Iran’s nuclear program which they fear could lead to it making a bomb, something Iran denies.
“They have decided to attack at least two countries in the region in the next three months,” Ahmadinejad said in excerpts broadcast on the rolling news channel on Tuesday.
Israel, which refuses to confirm or deny the existence of its own nuclear arsenal, has a history of pre-emptive strikes against suspected nuclear targets. In 1981 it destroyed Iraq’s only nuclear reactor and in 2007 bombed a suspect site in Syria.
In a move condemned by Russia, the EU imposed fresh sanctions on Iran’s key energy sector Monday in a bid to halt its enrichment of uranium while applying pressure to resume talks on the atomic program.
Canada followed the EU’s example with its own sanctions, while the US, which has led international efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear drive, said the punitive steps would bite.
Ahmadinejad said Iran would “resume nuclear talks with the West in September.”
But the hardliner said “conditions” he first laid out for talks in June still stand such as the position of world powers on the “Zionist regime’s atomic bombs.”
“They should say whether they consent to it [Israel’s alleged arsenal] or not. That’s all. We don’t expect more,” he said, adding that “others should be present in the discussions,” which Press TV earlier identified as Turkey and Brazil.
Israel accuses Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tehran “deeply regrets and condemns” the new EU sanctions, although they would “not affect Iran’s determination to defend its legitimate right to pursue a peaceful nuclear program.”
The EU sanctions follow similar measures meted out by the US that go beyond a fourth set of UN sanctions imposed on June 9 over Iran’s refusal to freeze uranium enrichment.
They are aimed at reviving stalled talks between Iran and six world powers – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US.
Russia, which has strong economic ties with Iran, said Tuesday the EU sanctions were “unacceptable” and showed “disregard for the carefully regulated and coordinated provisions of the UN Security Council.” The comments came despite Moscow having hardened its position on Tehran, with President Dmitry Medvedev saying Iran was close to having the potential to build a nuclear weapon. – AFP, Reuters