Iran: US threats are psychological warfare
Amid a report of US intention to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, US President George W. Bush said reports that the United States is planning a military attack against Iranian nuclear targets are "just wild speculation," and that his administration continues to favor a diplomatic approach to the crisis involving European countries and Russia. "our objective is to prevent them from having a nuclear weapon, and the good news is that many in the world have come to that conclusion," Bush said.
Bush added It doesn't mean force, necessarily. In this case, it means diplomacy."
Larijani on a visit to Qatar made the remarks during an interview with Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television.
US threats against Iran tantamount to psychological war, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani said yesterday.
"Iran has prepared itself for various situations. Vicious measures can harm the security of the entire region," he said.
"Iran is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and is the only country that sympathizes with other member countries in this nuclear right. Its referral to the UN Security Council because of its research work will be a big disgrace to the council," he added.
Pointing to US threats against Iran, he went on to say that the US should not encroach on the activities of others just to prove itself. "It should adopt peaceful ways of confronting issues." Referring to the abuse of terrorism suspects in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison by US troops, he asked "Is this the democracy the US claims to champion in Iraq?" Shifting to Iran's nuclear case and the upcoming visit of IAEA chief Mohamed Elbaradei to Iran, Larijani said "IAEA inspectors are currently in Iran to inspect its nuclear sites as they have been doing in the past because Tehran, like other members of the agency, has the right to peaceful nuclear technology." "All nuclear sites of the country are under the supervision of the IAEA," and added that Tehran believes constructive negotiation can settle the nuclear problem because it has nothing to conceal."
Larijani also pointed to the need to adopt a logical attitude towards countries which have the same desire to access nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, saying "otherwise these countries will be encouraged to act in such a way as to prevent others from accessing nuclear technology." Referring to the West's accusation that Tehran is in the process of producing a nuclear bomb, he said that the accusation has no basis in fact since three years of inspection by IAEA inspectors have not unearthed evidence of this kind of activity by Iran.
