Talk of an Israeli attack on Iran 'an empty threat'
Source: Agencies |
November 7, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A SENIOR Iranian cleric yesterday dismissed talk of a military strike by Israel as empty propaganda, taunting the Jewish state for screaming "like a cornered cat" rather than roaring like a lion.
Israeli media have speculated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netan-yahu is seeking cabinet consensus to attack Iranian nuclear sites as Western diplomats say new evidence of Tehran researching ways to build nuclear weapons will be published this week.
Some analysts dismiss the speculation as part of a strategy to raise pressure on Iran and bolster a case for harsher international sanctions, rather than endorse or participate in military action.
Referring to anti-capitalism protests that have spread around the world, Ayatollah Mahmoud Alavi said: "The recent threats of the Zionist regime against Iran are more for internal consumption for themselves and their masters who are struggling with the Wall Street movement.
"There is a difference between the roar of a lion and the scream of a cat that has been trapped in a corner. And this threat of the Zionist regime and its master America is like the scream of a cornered cat."
Alavi, a member of the Assembly of Experts, a body that appoints and supervises Iran's supreme leader, said Israel would not dare to attack Iran.
"If they make such a mistake they will receive a crushing response from the Islamic republic," he said.
Iran said it would respond to any attack by striking at US interests in the region and could close the Gulf to oil traffic, causing disruption to global crude supplies.
Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Friday that Western intelligence services were "looking at the ticking clock, warning leaders that there is not much time left" to stop Iran getting the bomb.
Iran is already under four rounds of United Nations sanctions due to concerns about its nuclear program, which it claims is entirely peaceful.
Israeli media have speculated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netan-yahu is seeking cabinet consensus to attack Iranian nuclear sites as Western diplomats say new evidence of Tehran researching ways to build nuclear weapons will be published this week.
Some analysts dismiss the speculation as part of a strategy to raise pressure on Iran and bolster a case for harsher international sanctions, rather than endorse or participate in military action.
Referring to anti-capitalism protests that have spread around the world, Ayatollah Mahmoud Alavi said: "The recent threats of the Zionist regime against Iran are more for internal consumption for themselves and their masters who are struggling with the Wall Street movement.
"There is a difference between the roar of a lion and the scream of a cat that has been trapped in a corner. And this threat of the Zionist regime and its master America is like the scream of a cornered cat."
Alavi, a member of the Assembly of Experts, a body that appoints and supervises Iran's supreme leader, said Israel would not dare to attack Iran.
"If they make such a mistake they will receive a crushing response from the Islamic republic," he said.
Iran said it would respond to any attack by striking at US interests in the region and could close the Gulf to oil traffic, causing disruption to global crude supplies.
Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Friday that Western intelligence services were "looking at the ticking clock, warning leaders that there is not much time left" to stop Iran getting the bomb.
Iran is already under four rounds of United Nations sanctions due to concerns about its nuclear program, which it claims is entirely peaceful.
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