Iran says can hit U.S. interests worldwide if attacked
A new medium-range missile is fired from a naval ship during Velayat-90 war game on Sea of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran January 1, 2012. Iran test-fired a new medium-range missile, designed to evade radars, on Sunday during the last days of its naval drill in the Gulf, the official IRNA news agency quoted a military official as saying.
Credit: Reuters/Jamejamonline/Ebrahim Norouzi
(Reuters) - Iran is capable of carrying out military strikes on U.S. interests all around the world if the Islamic Republic is attacked by the United States, Iran's ambassador to Moscow said on Wednesday.
The United States has tried to force Tehran to scrap sensitive nuclear work by imposing sanctions targeting Iran's central bank and giving U.S. banks new powers to freeze Iranian government assets.
Iran's ambassador to Moscow said that the United States would be making a serious mistake, akin to suicide, if it risked a military strike on OPEC's No. 2 oil exporter.
Washington has announced no such plans, but has said a military option is always on the table if Iran cannot be otherwise prevented from developing atomic weapons.
"The Americans know what kind of country Iran is. They are well aware of our people's unity," Iranian ambassador Seyed Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi told a news conference in Moscow.
"And that's why Iran is fully able to deliver retaliatory strikes on the United States anywhere in the world," he said, speaking through an interpreter.
"Even if it attacks, we have a list of counter actions. (The United States) would be disappointed with their huge mistake."
Iran has increasingly issued threatening statements against the West in recent weeks as tension has increased over its uranium enrichment program, which it moved last month to a mountain bunker better protected from possible air strikes.
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful while Western powers fear Tehran is trying to build a nuclear bomb.
"The issue of a military attack from America on the Islamic Republic of Iran has been on the agenda for several years," said Sajjadi, adding that Iran would never strike first.
Iran has warned its response to any such strike would be "painful," threatening to target Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf, along with closing the Strait of Hormuz used by one third of the world's seaborne oil traffic.
Russia, the world's biggest energy producer, opposes further U.N. Security Council sanctions over Tehran's nuclear program and has sharply criticized U.S. and European Union sanctions.
(Writing by Steve Gutterman and Guy Faulconbridge)
Bee's Note:
During the past month, not a day went by when the headlines did not center around Iran and whether or not Israel would attack Iran's nuclear sites and, not a day went by when our own administration did not "leak" some information they thought Israel may be planning for Iran, expressing their deep concerns about the "timing" and of Israel's urgency to prevent Iran from obtaining their final "goal".
Then, suddenly, headlines changed and we find Obama in the middle of an un-Constitutional religious war with the Catholic Church and all of America, thanks, once again, to our very own Congress allowing Obama to rule America like a damn dictator, ignoring America's laws of the land, including that of separation of church and state.
But is Obama that ignorant, or was there some hidden agenda in suddenly bringing attention back to his health plans (also un-Constitutional) and taking the heat off of his inexperience with foreign policy and the threats from Iran? He has tried to have the liberal media make Iran an Israeli problem - not our problem - nothing to see here, move on! Israel, on the other hand, has warned the US time and again, that a nuclear Iran will be the end of civilization as we know it ....
Well, here's the latest news about Iran's capabilities .......... our churches, synagogues, economy, will all take a back seat to Iran's threats being fulfilled, if this administration does not bring attention and speak LOUDER to Iran about what will happen to them if they dare attempt to strike the USA. What constitutes a Declaration of War? Iran comes close, if it hasn't already, of declaring war against the USA with its threats and any other President would be on national TV giving a clear WARNING to Iran - not sitting at home, attacking America's religious freedoms.
It is not about Iran's threats to Israel, Mr. Idiot in Chief - it's about Iran's threats to the United States of America! Get the hell out of all your little civil wars throughout the ME and focus on the Head of the Snake, Iran.
Obama may be the most deceitful president this country ever had the misfortune of voting into the White House; his leadership both here and abroad are a complete failure; ... but someone in Washington had better wake up fast!
It is not about Iran's threats to Israel, Mr. Idiot in Chief - it's about Iran's threats to the United States of America! Get the hell out of all your little civil wars throughout the ME and focus on the Head of the Snake, Iran.
Obama may be the most deceitful president this country ever had the misfortune of voting into the White House; his leadership both here and abroad are a complete failure; ... but someone in Washington had better wake up fast!