Iran: US threat is dictatorial

Iran stated that the US threat against Iraq is dictatorial and that the primary victim of a US military strike would be innocent Iraqi people.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the United States is using the need for Iraq to implement Security Council resolutions to justify the US military presence in the Gulf and to make its forceful intervention look logical.

Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said his government had exerted intensive efforts to convince Iraq to implement international resolutions and prevent US military strikes.