Iran warns against foreign military attack

Xinhua, November 9, 2011

Iranian officials on Tuesday warned against any military raid on the country by some western countries over its sensitive nuclear program.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Tuesday that any U.S. military attack on the country will bring regretful consequences for the attackers.

Ahmadinejad said if the United States stands against the Islamic Republic, the response of the Iranian nation will make it regret what it did, local Mehr news agency reported.

He criticized the U.S. government for making allegations against Tehran over its nuclear program, saying that "today, the U. S. government is audaciously accusing Iran of developing nuclear weapons while itself possesses 5,000 atomic bombs."

The annual budget that Iran has allocated to nuclear research is about 250 million U.S. dollars while "U.S. President (Barack Obama) this year allocated 81 billion U.S. dollars to modernize the country's atomic bombs in addition to national budget," he said according to the report.

Ahmadinejad also said that "the Iranian nation need not have atomic bombs to cut the hands of the United States off."

He called on Washington to abandon its hostile policy toward Tehran.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said Tuesday that military adventurism or any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic will be met with a swift and crushing response, according to the local satellite Press TV.

Vahidi said at a ceremony attended by the police forces in Tehran that Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and army monitor every activity of the trans-regional forces in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.

"Adventurism and any hostile measure against Iran's territorial integrity will be met with a decisive, swift and crushing response from the country's armed forces," he was quoted as saying.

Vahidi pointed to the U.S. efforts to "demonize" Iran and convince neighboring countries that Iran is a threat to their security, and said that Washington aims to take control of the Islamic Awakening movement, sell its weapons and divert attention away from its ominous plans.