Iran's leader warns US
Source: Agencies |
October 17, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
Iran's supreme leader warned the United States yesterday that any measures taken against Tehran over an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington would elicit a "resolute" response.
Two men, including a member of Iran's special Quds Force, have been charged in New York federal court with conspiring to kill the Saudi diplomat, Adel Al-Jubeir. US officials have said no one was ever in any immediate danger from the plot.
"If US officials have some delusions, (they must) know that any unsuitable act, whether political or security, will meet a resolute response from the Iranian nation," state TV quoted Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying.
Khamenei's comments may reflect Iranian concerns that Washington would use the case to ratchet up sanctions and recruit international allies to try to further isolate Tehran.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been blunt in saying the United States would use the allegations as leverage with other countries that have been reluctant to apply harsh sanctions against Iran.
President Barack Obama said last Thursday that the US will be able to support all of its allegations that Iran was directly involved in the plot.
But Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran, said the US accused Iran of terror to divert attention from its economic woes and from the Occupy Wall Street protest movement.
"By attributing an absurd and meaningless accusation to a few Iranians, they tried to show that Iran is a supporter of terrorism ... This conspiracy didn't work and won't work," he said.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed US accusations as a fabricated "scenario."
"Iran is a civilized nation and doesn't need to resort to assassination," he was quoted by the IRNA news agency as saying yesterday.
Two men, including a member of Iran's special Quds Force, have been charged in New York federal court with conspiring to kill the Saudi diplomat, Adel Al-Jubeir. US officials have said no one was ever in any immediate danger from the plot.
"If US officials have some delusions, (they must) know that any unsuitable act, whether political or security, will meet a resolute response from the Iranian nation," state TV quoted Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying.
Khamenei's comments may reflect Iranian concerns that Washington would use the case to ratchet up sanctions and recruit international allies to try to further isolate Tehran.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been blunt in saying the United States would use the allegations as leverage with other countries that have been reluctant to apply harsh sanctions against Iran.
President Barack Obama said last Thursday that the US will be able to support all of its allegations that Iran was directly involved in the plot.
But Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran, said the US accused Iran of terror to divert attention from its economic woes and from the Occupy Wall Street protest movement.
"By attributing an absurd and meaningless accusation to a few Iranians, they tried to show that Iran is a supporter of terrorism ... This conspiracy didn't work and won't work," he said.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed US accusations as a fabricated "scenario."
"Iran is a civilized nation and doesn't need to resort to assassination," he was quoted by the IRNA news agency as saying yesterday.
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