DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - U.S.A./IRAN: THE IRANIAN AYATOLLAHS ARE CONFIDENT THAT THE UNITED STATES WILL NOT ATTACK IRAN

Iranian minister rules out US military strike

IRANIAN Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said he didn’t see any possibility of US waging a war against his country in the present circumstances on the contentious nuclear issue.

The minister, who was on a whirlwind one-day visit of Qatar, told a press conference in Doha yesterday. “A war is highly unlikely as the present circumstances in the US don’t help that country to wage a war, financed by its taxpayers,” Mottaki said.

The minister said the “wise officials in the US Administration would overcome all pressures and would try to find solutions to not only the nuclear issue, but to many other problems that the world is encountering today.”

Answering a question on Iran’s offer to support the GCC states for a nuclear programme, Mottaki said his country wholly supported the GCC’s desire for a nuclear programme for peaceful purposes, which will be constantly supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

When asked about the possibility of further sanctions being imposed on Iran in view of the ongoing nuclear controversy, the minister said Tehran had taken a logical approach to the whole issue and the recent talks in Ankara and Lisbon had yielded some good results to both parties.

Mottaki said Tehran and the “Five plus one group” had already expressed their desire for more talks in the next three months and his country was optimistic of arriving at a peaceful conclusion.

He said the European Union (EU) and Iran favoured a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue.

Countering charges that Iran was meddling in Iraq, Mottaki said even in the face of opposition from Tehran’s rivals, Iran continued to support the political process that was set in motion in Iraq and had been supporting democracy and an elected government there. “Only Iraqis and no one else could take their country out of the present turmoil,” he insisted.

The minister said “Iran, because of its interest in Iraq, started a dialogue even with its enemies.”

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