TEHRAN: Iran would strike back at Israeli weapons manufacturing sites and nuclear installations if Israel attacked the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities, Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi was quoted as saying on Wednesday. Israel has refused to rule out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve an international dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at making bombs.
Iran denies the charge and has often warned it would retaliate if attacked. The head of the elite Revolutionary Guards said earlier this year that Iranian missiles could reach Israeli nuclear sites, a warning underlined by Vahidi.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s armed forces are fully prepared,” Vahidi said during a visit to Syria when asked about any possible Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
If attacked by Israel, Iran’s first response would target various weapons manufacturing sites, including “dirty weapons and other unconventional nuclear centers,” Vahidi said.
Israel is believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East.
Iran has often said it has missiles capable of reaching Israel. Western defense analysts have questioned whether they could hit long-range targets accurately.
Vahidi said “recent threats” by Israeli officials were aimed partly at covering up their own problems and to gain approval for an increased military budget, Mehr reported.
“But at the same time the Zionists know they are not able to carry out any of their threats against Iran and they are aware of Iran’s firm response,” he said.
Iran does not recognize Israel, which it refers to as the “Zionist” state.
Iran says its nuclear work is aimed at generating electricity, not making bombs, but its failure to convince world powers about the peaceful nature of its work has led to UN and US sanctions.
Tensions increased further last month when Iran said it would build 10 new uranium enrichment sites, shortly after the 35-nation board of the UN nuclear watchdog agency adopted a resolution rebuking Tehran for carrying out such work in secret.
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that last month’s announcement was not made to retaliate for the UN agency’s resolution, contradicting a statement by the head of Iran’s atomic energy organization.
Ahmadinejad said Iran had started preparations several months ago for constructing new enrichment plants and the sites of five of them had been finalized, state broadcaster IRIB reported.
Enriched uranium can be used as fuel for nuclear power stations and, if refined further, can provide material for bombs.
Abolfazl Zohrehvand, a senior Iranian diplomat involved in nuclear talks with major powers, criticized Wednesday an international treaty banning nuclear explosions, suggesting a new seismic monitoring station near its border was set up to spy on Iran.
Last week, the Vienna-based Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said a primary seismic station had been built and was undergoing tests in Turkmenistan, which borders Iran. It is one of hundreds of such facilities set up around the world to monitor compliance with the test ban treaty banning all nuclear explosions, according to the website of the CTBTO, an independent world body observing possible breaches of the ban.
A CTBTO spokeswoman said the “network of sensors” was established to monitor explosions worldwide, not in particular countries. Annika Thunborg said several sensors were already located inside Iran, which is a member of the organization.
But Zohrehvand said the facilities had been revealed as “dens of espionage” and suggested that plans to build them inside Iran had been halted. “The CTBT is an espionage treaty which contradicts countries’ national sovereignty,” he added. – AFP, Reuters