Eurasia Press & News
Iran’s Ambassador to Mexico Mohammad Hassan Ghadiri Abyaneh warned the United States against an invasion of the Islamic Republic, saying that in case of such aggression, US troops will have to go back home in caskets. Abyaneh made the remarks in an interview with the Mexican daily ‘The News’, where he presented his perspective on the growing tensions between Tehran and the West.
Your government has said that the new US financial sanctions against Iran will be “ineffective” and are “doomed to fail.” How can your government dismiss these measures out of hand if they clearly affect your national economy?
The US imposition of economic sanctions against Iran is nothing new. It imposed sanctions from the very first day of our revolution. The US government supported the dictatorial regime of (Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi), which denied the Iranian people democracy and used torture against them. The Shah
was a puppet government, and the United States controlled it. The United States’ attempts to destroy our democratic government through economic sanctions have never worked.
In fact, these sanctions backfired. The new sanctions will be no different. The United States wants Iran to stop enriching uranium, but we have the right to do so under international law. The United States does not have the right to interfere in our economic development, which includes the use of nuclear energy. We are not going to accept any imposition on our international rights or any neo-apartheid policy that discriminates against us.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that he would inflict “economic retaliation” on any European nation that follows the example of the United States and imposes comparable sanctions.
What kind of retaliation?
Naturally, any country that tries to harm Iran will face consequences. The first thing we can do is closing our markets to them. If Europe were to side with the United States, their businessmen would be punished as well because they would lose out on opportunities to do business with us.
Your president has insisted that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful. If this is the case, why do you steadfastly refuse to allow UN inspectors better access to the nuclear plants?
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has had more access in Iran than in any other country. It has access now to many parts of our nuclear plant If it wants access to our plants, it has it. But it cannot tell us to stop enriching uranium.
If it were to find some evidence that Iran is making atomic bombs, then it would be in its right to reprimand us, but the IAEA has found no such evidence. If the United States or France accuses Iran of moving towards nuclear weapons, then why don’t they produce some evidence to that effect?
I’ll tell you why: Because they are lying and they are using these allegations to justify waging a psychological war against Iran. The United States’ aim is oil, just as it was in the case of Iraq. Iran’s development of atomic energy is not the issue, it’s only an excuse. The real issue is oil.
There’s no denying that the verbal rhetoric between Washington and Tehran has reached unprecedented levels. How did the situation reach the point that we are now discussing a possible military confrontation between the United States and Iran?
America says that Iran is dangerous, but we say it is the United States that is a danger. It is the only country that has ever used atomic weapons to create a nuclear holocaust. We believe that George Bush and his cabinet are working to start a third world war, and as I said before, the reason is oil. They already launched a war against Afghanistan and Iraq, and now they want to move towards Iran.
And any country that attacks Iran militarily will receive a military response. We are not going to surrender. We have many ways to respond to an attack. And if Iran were attacked, it would be seen as an attack on Islam by every Muslim in the world. And many Muslims in the world would respond to such an attack. America cannot expect to attack another country and be safe.
If there are any sound thinkers in the White House, there will be no war. But there are people like Dick Cheney who are pushing for war. Consequently, I think Iran has to be prepared for a military attack, and we are. Iran does not want war, but if any American troops come to Iran, they will go home in a casket.
