via WorldNetDaily.com
By Aaron Klein - August 25, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern
Insisting again its nuclear program is peaceful, Iran repeated a warning yesterday that it would retaliate if Israel attacks any of its nuclear facilities. "If they would do that, we would react," Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said during a visit to New Zealand. "We have our defense capability and that certainly keeps others from exercising such a threat," he said. "They know what is our capability and how ... we react."
Kharrazi's comments come amid tensions between the U.S. and Israel toward Iran, particularly in recent weeks. Israeli suspicions continue to grow that Iran is pursuing a nuclear-weapons program in the guise of a peaceful nuclear-power industry. Kharrazi insisted: "Iran has no program to produce nuclear weapons. It is our legitimate right to have nuclear technology for peaceful purposes."
Iran last week announced it may decide to pre-empt an Israeli or American strike with an attack against the Jewish state or U.S. interests in the Middle East. The Ayatollahs have also gone to great lengths to warn that Iran can "hit anywhere in Israel" with its upgraded version of the Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile. |