Iran would respond to any military attack from Israel by "eliminating" the Jewish state, a senior army commander has said. Deputy commander-in-chief Mohammad Reza Ashtiani was echoing Iran's late leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, who said Israel should be wiped off the map. Some analysts have speculated that Israel might attack Iran to stop its nuclear activities. "If Israel wants to take any action against the Islamic Republic, we will eliminate Israel from the scene of the universe," the semi-official ‘Mehr’ news agency quoted Ashtiani as saying. "Our answer to any military attack against Iran will be strong."
The US State Department said the comments showed the international community was right to press sanctions against Iran. It was "more unbelievable rhetoric out of the leadership of the Iranian government about attacking a fellow member of the United Nations," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. "Any civilized person finds that disturbing."
Meanwhile, China hosted talks on Iran's nuclear program. Delegates from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany discussed in Shanghai whether to offer Tehran more incentives to curb its nuclear activities. The talks came a week after Iran defied international sanctions, saying it planned to expand its nuclear work by installing another 6,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear plant in addition to the 3,000 which are already there. US national security advisor Stephen Hadley also discussed the Iranian question with Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem.
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