Iran Vows To Strike Hard If Attacked By U.S.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (file photo) (AFP) April 26, 2006 -- Iran says it will retaliate and harm U.S. interests around the world if the United States launches an attack against Tehran.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said today that Iran would respond to any strike with double the intensity.

His comments came two days before the United Nations Security Council's deadline -- April 28 -- for Iran to halt all its uranium enrichment activities, something it has refused to do.


Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad today called that deadline "illegitimate," and said Iran would not give up what he called its "indisputable" right to nuclear energy.


Meanwhile today, the head of Iran's nuclear agency, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, met with officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, but no developments from those talks were reported.


(compiled from agency reports)

RFE/RL Iran Report

RFE/RL Iran Report


SUBSCRIBE For regular news and analysis on Iran by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Iran Report."