Iran takes defense measures fearing possible attacks

3/17/2005 4:20:00 PM GMT

Iranian army commander Gen. Mohammed Salimi is warning that Washington and Israel’s military threats against Iran are very serious, and that Tehran has taken all needed defense measures fearing possible attacks.

"We have taken all the necessary defense measures be it on land, in the air or sea," the Iranian News Agency quoted Salimi as saying.

He also noted that the U.S. and Israeli threats have existed for the past 24 years, but "they are more serious than ever at present in light of the recent declarations by American and Israeli officials."

"After the regimes were changed in our two neighbors, namely Iraq and Afghanistan, we believe that U.S. and Israeli strategy is based on changing the regime in Iran and they are actually studying which military strategy they should follow," Salimi added.

However, he asserted that Iran’s military is ready with different strategies to confront any possible attack after pinpointing the weak points of the enemy forces (Israel, U.S.).

Yesterday, President George W. Bush repeated his threats, saying that the U.S. and its European allies would refer Iran’s nuclear file to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions if the Islamic republic rejected incentives to suspend its nuclear activities.

"The understanding is, we go to the Security Council if they reject the offer. And I hope they don't. I hope they realize the world is clear about making sure that they don't end up with a nuclear weapon," he said.

Bush maintains that Tehran must "permanently abandon any enrichment or reprocessing to make sure that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon."

The EU big-three; Britain, France and Germany offered Iran economic incentives to do so "and now we're waiting for an Iranian response," Bush told a press conference on Wednesday.

Bush’s remarks came as Iran's President Mohamed Khatami asserted that no incentives would be enough to persuade the Islamic republic give up its peaceful nuclear technology, yet pledged the country would make "every effort" to assure the world it was not seeking atomic weapons.

When asked whether he thinks Iran’s regime needs to be changed, the American President replied: "I believe that the Iranian people ought to be allowed to freely discuss opinions, read a free press, have free votes, be able to choose among political parties.

"I believe Iran should adopt democracy, that's what I believe".