Iran's FM warns Israel of retaliation during ABC interview
Reuters - World News
Sep 28, 2003
WASHINGTON - Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, denying his country has "any program to produce weapons of mass destruction," warned Israel that Iran would respond to any strike on its nuclear facilities.
In an interview aired on Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Kharazi
said the possibility of an Israeli military strike on its nuclear program was "a threat, no question."
Israel has warned that Iran's nuclear program posed a threat
to the world and was reportedly considering such a strike if Iran is pursuing a nuclear option.
Kharazi said: "Israel knows if it commits such an action, it would be reacted."
He declined to be more specific, saying simply "there will be a response" if Israel launched such a strike.
Iran faces mounting pressure to prove it is not developing nuclear weapons. Diplomats in Vienna last week said the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, had discovered traces of weapons-grade enriched uranium at a second site in Iran.
The IAEA has given Tehran until Oct. 31 to prove it does not have a secret atomic arms program or be reported to the United Nations Security Council for possible sanctions.
On Saturday, U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded Tehran give up any ambitions to build nuclear weapons.
Early last week, Iran paraded six of its newly deployed medium-ranged missiles, which military analysts say could reach Israel or U.S. bases in the Gulf.
Iran insists its nuclear scientists are not working on a weapons program but are trying to meet the country's soaring electricity demand.
"Certainly, we don't have any program to produce weapons of mass destruction, that is for sure," Kharazi said in the interview taped on Saturday evening.
Iran is willing sign a new inspection protocol with the IAEA, but only if that makes clear "we can continue with enrichment facilities to produce fuel needed for our power plants," he said.
Iran says won't halt uranium enrichment Iran said on Sunday it would not give up its nuclear program, including uranium enrichment, despite international pressure to prove it is not developing atomic weapons.
"Abandoning nuclear activities or enrichment is not something that Iran is ready to compromise on," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a weekly news conference.
He had been asked whether Iran would halt uranium enrichment activities as demanded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a resolution this month.
Inspectors are due to arrive in Tehran on Thursday for a round of further inspections and talks with Iranian officials.
The IAEA has given Iran until October 31 to prove it has no secret nuclear weapons programme, as the United States alleges.
If doubts remain about Iran's nuclear ambitions in November it could be reported to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is solely geared to producing enough electricity from atomic power to meet growing demand and insists it has cooperated with the IAEA.
"We have been transparent. We have said we're not seeking to produce weapons of mass destruction," Asefi said.
"But we haven't received a reciprocal answer from the international community. The (IAEA) resolution that was passed was political."
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