Iran Would Cut The Hand Of Any Attacker

NUKEWARS

"Our people hold out the hand of friendship to all the peoples. We want friendly and just relations with all the peoples except the Zionist regime," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.Iran says it develops advanced weapons despite sanctions
Tehran, April 18 (RIA Novosti) - Iran has mastered the most advanced armaments and military technologies despite sanctions by the West banning arm imports to the Islamic Republic, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at an annual military parade. Iran has been at the center of international concerns over its nuclear program, which some countries, particularly the United States, suspect is geared toward nuclear weapons development. Tehran has consistently denied the claims, saying it needs nuclear power for civilian purposes. "Some highbrow powers believed that by imposing sanctions banning armament deliveries to Iran our army would be weakened. But young Iranian scientists have been able to meet the military needs of our armed forces in all areas," Ahmadinejad said on the occasion of Iran's National Army Day. Ahmadinejad also said Iran stood for peace and stability in the region and in the world, adding that the Islamic Republic's armed forces could repel any external act of aggression. The parade that followed Ahmadinejad's speech was held near the Tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, and displayed Iran's modern weaponry, including missiles of various range, mobile air defense systems, drone planes, combat aircraft, the armor and electronic warfare. The UN Security Council voted unanimously March 24 to impose new sanctions against the Islamic Republic for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, which the country resumed in January 2006 for what it claims to be a civilian nuclear power generating program. The new UN Security Council resolution was passed following Tehran's refusal to comply with the previous resolution adopted December 23, 2006.

by Farhad Pouladi
Tehran (AFP) April 18, 2007
Iran on Wednesday warned that its armed forces would "cut off the hand" of an enemy and Tehran would consider using oil as a weapon if the Islamic republic was attacked over its nuclear programme. "Our army has a defensive mission and not an offensive one. But it is completely ready to confront any aggressor and cut off their hand," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a military parade to mark army day on the outskirts of Tehran.

"The army and armed forces must be more ready with each passing day," he told the forces outside the shrine of Iran's revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Meanwhile, Iran's oil minister refused to rule out using oil as a weapon in the standoff with the West over its nuclear programme, saying that Tehran would use every means if attacked.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran's policy is to supply energy as a responsibility. We are never seeking to cut the energy supplies to the world," Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh told an energy conference in Tehran.

"But naturally every country, which is subject to danger or attack, should use all its possibilities to defend itself and this is every country's right," he said.

Analysts have said that Tehran could cause oil prices to surge if it cut off the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping channel, which would trigger a massive disruption in global supplies.

The United States has refused to rule out the option of military action to force Iran to halt its atomic drive which Washington suspects is aimed at making weapons. Iran insists that its nuclear programme is peaceful.

Iran's repeated refusal to suspend sensitive uranium enrichment operations has already brought two sets of UN sanctions targeting its ballistics and nuclear industries.

The military parade in Tehran showed off regiment after regiment of ground forces, tanks, a new set of drones as well as medium-range Nazeat (Meteor) missiles one of which was inscribed "Death to Israel".

However, Iran's longer-range ballistic missiles, which are under the control of the Revolutionary Guards, were not on display and there was no sign of any hitherto unknown weaponry.

"They think that with sanctions on our weapons we would be paralysed but we have succeeded in producing all we need in arms," said Ahmadinejad in the brief address.

In the military parade, Iran showed off a succession of drones with names like Oqab (Eagle), Sayad (Hunter) and Azarakhsh (Thunderbolt) which it said were able to confront "any aerial or ground threat by the enemy."

Also on display were Zelzal-2 (Quake) missiles which are said to have a range of 100 to 400 kilometres (60 to 250 miles) and Nazeat missiles which have a range of around 100 kilometres.

Other units taking part in the parade included a regiment of motorcyclists with shoulder-launched missiles as well as divers equipped with aqualungs on top of their mini-submarines.

Ahmadinejad said that despite the standoff over its nuclear programme, Iran wanted to have friendly relations with all countries, with the exception of Israel which it refuses to recognise.

"Our people hold out the hand of friendship to all the peoples. We want friendly and just relations with all the peoples except the Zionist regime," he said.

Ahmadinejad, who returned briefly to Tehran for the parade from a continuing trip to the southern Fars province, has repeatedly insisted that Iran has no intention of giving in to Western demands over its nuclear drive.

Iran has defiantly announced that its uranium enrichment activities have reached an industrial scale although Western observers stay there is still uncertainty over what stage its nuclear programme has in fact reached.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Email This Article

NUKEWARS

Iran Has Started Enrichment At Natanz Site Says IAEA

Vienna (AFP) Apr 18, 2007
Iran has started feeding uranium gas for enrichment at a nuclear plant where it has installed over 1,300 centrifuges, the UN atomic watchdog said Wednesday, showing increasing defiance of UN resolutions.

ENERGY TECH Shanghai To Shut Down 29 Coal Power Plants By 2010 Co2 Storage In Coal Can Be Predicted Better UCLA Chemists Design Lowest-Density Crystals Ever For Use In Clean Energy Researchers Find Large Is Smart When It Comes To Cities	CIVIL NUCLEAR G7 Ministers Give Nuclear Energy A Nod Mitsubishi Corp Buys Uranium Rights In Canada Japanese Nuclear Industry Vows Safety Egypt And Russia Drafting Nuclear Cooperation Agreements
BLUE SKY NASA Aims To Clear Up Mystery Of Elusive Clouds At Edge Of Space University Of Colorado Instruments To Launch On NASA Cloud Mission Powerful New Tool To Track Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide By Source Sun-Warmed Air Pollution Flows East From Asia	WOOD PILE Greater Use Of Biofuels Threatens Rain Forests Soybean Planting Hastens Drying Of Amazonia China Demand Driving Endangered Tree To Extinction Study Projects Effects Of Forest Management In Oregon Coast Range
FARM NEWS Winter Flounder On The Fast Track To Recovery Satellite Images Aid Implementation Of Agricultural Reforms Farmland Across China At Risk From Pollution Anthropologist Finds Earliest Evidence Of Maize Farming In Mexico	CAR TECH Driverless Car Goes On Show In London Made In USA Losing Cachet Technique Creates Metal Memory And Could Lead To Vanishing Dents Toyota Anticipates Sharp Increase In Its Hybrid Sales
AEROSPACE Nondestructive Testing Keeps Bagram Aircraft Flying New FAA Oceanic Air Traffic System Designed By Lockheed Martin Fully Operational NASA Seeks New Research Proposals Germans Urged To Give Foreign Travel A Rest To Curb Global Warming	NUCLEAR SPACE Could NASA Get To Pluto Faster? Space Expert Says Yes - By Thinking Nuclear NASA plans to send new robot to Jupiter Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Tranportion With Jovian Mission Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement