08.07.2004, 03:34
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Zitat:Iran will abandon nuclear obligations if attacked: defence minister
TEHRAN, July 7 (AFP) - Iran's defence minister has warned that the Islamic republic will abandon its commitments to the UN atomic watchdog if its nuclear installations are attacked, the official news agency IRNA reported Wednesday.
"Today the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) holds every detail on Iran's nuclear programme," Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani was quoted as saying.
"If there is a military attack, that would mean that the IAEA has been collecting this information to prepare for an attack. Naturally, after such an action, it would be necessary to renounce all of our nuclear commitments," he added.
The IAEA is investigating Iran's ambitious bid to generate atomic energy, but has been critical of the regime's level of cooperation. The United States and Israel accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons.
Shamkhani warned them of a fierce retaliation if they decided to attack."The United States and the other enemies of the Islamic republic must know that we will respond to a military action against our country with all our force," he said, adding the retaliation would be "unlimited by time and space".
Although alluding to a possible threat of US or Israeli missile strikes against Iran, the minister said he did not fear a full scale invasion.
Before trying to take over Iran, Shamkhani said Washington would have to wait the same amount of years that separated the end of the Vietnam war and the invasion of Iraq, given its current woes in Iran's neighbour.
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