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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (file)
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| By Israel Insider staff July 16, 2007 |
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Diplomatic sources in Syria told the Qatari newspaper Al Watan that Iran has designated 600 targets in Israel for missile strikes if Israel attacks. The warnings appear to be an attempt by the Iranian government to stave off a military assault on its nuclear facilities that the West believes are being built for military purposes.
Several channels delivered the Iranian message, which also warned against an attack on Syria, according to Haaretz. Experts, however, say that a war with Syria this summer is unlikely despite solemn forecasts in the spring.
These pronouncements come in the face of failing sanctions and fruitless efforts at diplomacy aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Iran has continued to defy UN Security Council's calls to halt its nuclear program. The Council has imposed two sets of sanctions on Iran over the country's refusal to cease uranium enrichment. The United States and its allies at the Council are pushing for a third resolution against the Islamic Republic.
"The third resolution would have its impact on Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said, according to Haaretz.
The Iranian government has agreed to allow UN nuclear inspectors to visit facilities they had previously been barred from and to answer questions on past nuclear experiments.
The move towards transparency could slow the drive for a third set of sanctions.
The Iranian government, however, has shown no intention to halt its uranium enrichment or end its calls for Israel's destruction.
"Iran has been oppressed in the nuclear issue and the world should admire the work of Iranian young scientists who have been able to achieve the most important part of nuclear energy activities, which is uraniam enrichment," Iran's official news agency wrote, summarizing a speech by Tehran's substitute Friday prayers leader Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
In a talk with reporters, President George W. Bush linked the stability of Iraq with Israel's security in light of threats from Iran.
"The same regime in Iran that is pursuing nuclear weapons and threatening to wipe Israel off the map is also providing sophisticated IEDs [improvised explosive devices] to extremists in Iraq who are using them to kill American soldiers," Bush told reporters.
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