Khamenei: Western Suspicion Iran Seeking Nuclear Bomb A 'Lie'

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said that any attack by Israel on Iran will blow back on the Jewish state "like thunder."

Khamenei also said that the international community's suspicion that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons is based on a "lie."

He said that the West sought "to divert minds and public opinion from the [economic] events that are happening in the U.S. and Europe."

Khamenei made these statements in a speech marking the 1989 death of his predecessor and founder of Iran's Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters