Posted on 04/14/2006 7:00:16 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's hardline leadership branded the United States a "decaying power," brushing off Washington's call for strong UN Security Council action to stop the Islamic regime's controversial nuclear drive.
The tough rhetoric came after the regime also dismissed a personal appeal from UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei to freeze uranium enrichment and calm suspicions it is seeking the atomic bomb.
"The enemy should know Iran is not comparable to any country in the world. Now we are much more powerful than before," senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Janati told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran.
"The United States is a decaying power. Don't be intimidated by their threats. They don't have the stamina to do anything," said the head of Iran's Guardian Council, a powerful political watchdog.
Iran announced this week that its scientists had successfully enriched uranium to make nuclear fuel, despite a UN Security Council demand for the sensitive work to be halted by April 28.
Iran says it only wants to generate atomic energy, but enrichment can be extended to make the fissile core of a nuclear warhead -- something the United States is convinced that "axis of evil" member Iran wants to acquire.
ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was rebuffed when he pressed the issue in Tehran on Thursday. He only said that talks would continue.
The IAEA chief must give a report at the end of April on Iranian compliance with the Security Council demand. After three years of investigations, he complained Iran's activities were "still hazy and not very clear".
In Washington, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for UN Security Council action and highlighted part of the UN charter that allows sanctions to escalate into military action.
"There is no doubt that Iran continues to defy the will of the international community," Rice said. "When the Security Council reconvenes, there will have to be some consequence for that action."
She suggested chapter seven of the UN Charter which sets out specific actions -- from sanctions to military action -- that can be taken when there is a threat to international peace or an act of aggression.
"One thing the Security Council has, and the IAEA does not have, is the ability to compel, through Chapter seven resolutions, member states of the UN to obey the will of the international system," Rice said.
"And I'm certain that we'll look at measures that could be taken to ensure that Iran knows that they really have no choice but to comply."
The US chief diplomat did not specifically call for any particular measure. US leaders this week said that reports of planned military action against Iraq were "wild speculation".
Representatives of the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany are to meet in Moscow Tuesday to discuss the crisis.
Although the United States has been prodding the council to take a tough stand against the Islamic republic, including possible sanctions, it has run into opposition from veto-wielding members Russia and China.
And Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also emphasised the mood in the regime that it is strong enough to deter any tough action.
"Today, thank God, the Iranian nation is a powerful one and we are going to have a dialogue with the world from a position of power," Ahmadinejad said in a speech in the northeast of the country.
"Everything we have is from God, and a few weaklings cannot stand against the Iranian people," he said.
In seeking to deter international action, Iran has been playing up its oil wealth, its military might in strategic Gulf waters and its influence across the region -- such as in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.
And in Tehran Friday, the regime's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was also opening an international conference on supporting the Palestinian fight against Israel. The gathering includes representatives from the militant groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses a crowd in the town of Kashmar in Iran's northeastern province of Khorassan. Iran's hardline leadership branded the United States a "decaying power," brushing off Washington's call for strong UN Security Council action to stop the Islamic regime's controversial nuclear drive.(AFP)
Do you all this feeling they are just itching for a fight?
They talk the talk..
I'm worried Norm...these people want a fight way to much.
The irony here that most are missing is that "time" is on our side on this issue (currently). In the short run. This nut-cake somewhat surprisingly understands this -
But we'll just keep letting him take that rope -
Remember we will fight this GWOT at the times and places of our choosing....not our enemies.
I get the feeling they are standing at the border giving us and Israel a "na,na,na,na,na, with their fingers in their ears, daring us to come get them. Why though?
God I pray you're right.
Thank you, Democrats, for making us appear weak-willed and impotent!
Its like a fight in hockey....the moment the other guy drops his gloves....its showtime.
Heh, Mahmoud, nice to see that you have learned to "cut and paste" old Breznev speaches. We've heard it all before.
Whine about us being a decaying power, but we STILL have more firepower than your sorry a-s Mullahcracy and I still can buy more than falafel, lamb, and flimsy furniture whenever I do shopping. How you like Dem Apples.
I am tempted to post nude photos of a Persian American princess, but I want to offend Mahmoud, not the good American families on this site.
He's been spending too much time in chat rooms with Osama bin Murtha.
I got that same thought......why?
Got to hand it to them, they're pretty good at picking up Democrat talking points.
Harry Browne (bless his soul) called it the error of identification. The tipping point in Iran is stark raving mad. To attempt to match them is the way to madness. They need to be smashed as flat as possible without killing the sane.
Sounds so...1939ish...
Nah, we know what they have and what they don't - Plus it is simply part of their culture.....Talk a big game. In their culture talk is as valued as action to a large degree (until they really see action).
The reality is Iran's leadership is scared bleep-less. They see freedom spreading across both borders. They see a future in which the values of freedom and individual self-worth exist....and they don't.
Are they a threat because of this. Most certainly. Will they be dealt with. I firmly believe so....before they become a nuclear threat.
Well, not quite yet. Still a few teeth left.
Either he knows something we don't know, or he's as psycho as a person can be.
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