Tehran, May 07: A senior Iranian cleric on Friday warned the world powers that if their threats continued, the Islamic state would decisively reply to them.
“If you threaten or attack our nation and religion, we will reply and you will get yourself a punch in your mouth and jeopardize all your world (‘s interests),” Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a member of the influential clergy group the Experts’ Assembly, said in his Friday prayers’ sermon.
The ayatollah was referring to threats of renewed sanctions by world powers against Iran for defying numerous United Nations Security Council demands to suspend its controversial uranium enrichment programmes.
He was also responding to alleged implied threats of military action by some Western powers.
“These people of ours are not afraid of sanctions and threats and the language of force against such people is irrational and futile,” said Khatami, who is close to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“Whether you like it or not, Iran is already in the nuclear club and it would be better to acknowledge it,” the cleric, known for his harsh and populist sermons, said.
Khatami called on the world powers to adopt a “polite and logical dialogue” with Iran rather than using threats and intimidation.
The Friday prayer podium is a weekly venue for clerics nationwide to voice their political standpoints. These do not, however, necessarily precisely reflect the stance of the Iranian government.
The Iranian government invited all 15 members of the UN Security Council to a dinner on Thursday in New York, through Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, in what was considered a reconciliatory initiative by observers.
Even the US, with which Iran has not had formal relations for over three decades, was represented at the dinner by Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff. No details of the discussion were made available.
As signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran claims the right to pursue peaceful civilian nuclear technology programmes.
Tehran has so far rejected accusations by world powers that it is working on a secret military nuclear weapons research programme.
–Agencies