Iran's top national security official Hassan Rowhani has said the armed forces are fully prepared for any military attack by the United States, press reports said Sunday. "Our plans are ready, and although an attack is very unlikely the plans have been approved by the Supreme National Security Council and given to the military forces," Rowhani was quoted as saying.
"We will not react to an attack with diplomacy. We are ready to cut off the aggressor's hand," added Rowhani, secretary of Iran's top national security body.
His comments came against a backdrop of an escalating war of words between Iran and the United States, which has hinted at possible military action over Tehran's nuclear programme.
The United States and Israel accuse Iran of using an atomic energy programme as a cover for weapons development, a charge the Islamic republic denies.
US invited to engage in dialogue
The chief UN nuclear inspector on Sunday urged the United States to engage in dialogue with Iran over its nuclear programme as he implicitly rebuked US leaders for discussing military options against the Islamic republic, saying such talk was "very unhelpful."
The comments by Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, followed remarks by US President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney earlier this month, in which they raised the possibility of military action in response to Tehran's alleged nuclear ambitions.
Bush told NBC News he "will never take any option off the table" when asked whether his administration was willing to consider a military solution if Iran continued to stonewall the international community about its suspected nuclear weapons programme.
Cheney, appearing on a popular radio show three days later, suggested Israel might strike to shut down the country's clandestine nuclear facilities "without being asked." The somber backdrop for the rhetoric was provided by award-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, who wrote in The New Yorker magazine that US commandos have been already operating inside Iran since mid-2004 selecting suspected weapons sites for possible air strikes. But ElBaradei argued continued dialogue was the best tool for addressing concerns about Iran's nuclear program, which the Islamic government insists is purely peaceful. "Talk about military activities at this stage is very unhelpful," the IAEA head said in a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post newspaper and Newsweek magazine. "I cannot see how a military solution can resolve the Iran issue." He said Iran had the know-how for building nuclear weapons and was likely to take its program underground in case of strikes against its nuclear facilities. If Tehran resumed its fuel cycle - now frozen under an agreement with European nations - it would be able to produce fissile material within two years and a weapon a year after that, according to ElBaradei.
"I'd like to see the Americans join a dialogue either with the Europeans or directly with the Iranians," he said. "I don't think you will get a permanent solution of the Iranian issue without full US engagement.