Saturday, 21 June 2008

Tehran pledges to deal 'powerful blow' against attack

RIA Novosti
Friday, June 20, 2008

TEHRAN, June 20 (RIA Novosti) - Iran's senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said Friday that Tehran would respond to any attack by Israel or the U.S. with a "powerful blow" after a paper claimed that Israel was preparing to attack Iran.

Escalating tensions

The New York Times reported Friday that the Israeli Air Force conducted military exercises in early June described as a "dress rehearsal" for an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. The report comes as the West handed a new set of incentives aimed at persuading Iran to give up its controversial uranium enrichment program.

The exercises involving over 100 Israeli fighters were aimed at sending a clear signal to Iran, an official at the Pentagon was cited as saying: "They wanted us to know, they wanted the Europeans to know, and they wanted the Iranians to know."
FULL ARTICLE @ RIA Novosti

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