Ahmadinejad declares Iran now too powerful for any country to attack
President touts self-sufficiency in arms manufacturing

Compiled by Daily Star staff
Thursday, May 31, 2007

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday extolled what he described as Iran's self-sufficiency in producing army equipment and said Iran was so powerful now that no other country would dare launch a military strike against it. "We have passed our point of vulnerability," Ahmadinejad told state television during a visit to an Iranian defense industry exhibition. "This means nobody would dare stage a military assault against our nation."

Ahmadinejad said possible adversaries were aware of Tehran's defense capabilities and said that Iranian national unity was also a key factor as to why no other country would attack.

"I don't think there is an item that we cannot produce, if we need it," Ahmadinejad said.

The president's remarks came a day ahead of talks between Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Spain.

Thursday's meeting between Larijani and Solana, acting on behalf of world powers, also come on the heels of rare talks between US and Iranian officials in Iraq, although atomic affairs were not on the agenda for the Baghdad meeting.

After decades of relying on foreign weapons purchases, Iran now claims it is increasingly self-sufficient, with annual exports of over $100 million worth of military equipment to more than 50 countries.

Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers and missiles, the government has said. In early 2005 it announced it had also begun producing torpedoes.

Ahmadinejad urged the United States earlier in May to withdraw troops from the region, after US Vice President Dick Cheney warned Iran sharply - from the hangar of an aircraft carrier in the Gulf - that the US would not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons or dominate the Middle East.

The official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported Wednesday that Larijani said the US-Iran talks could continue.

"If Americans have new solutions for security problems, the path [for talks] is open," he was quoted as saying.
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Larijani said the US-Iran talks were a significant event, both in the region and internationally. In the Iraqi capital on Monday, Iranian Ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi said the two sides would meet again in less than a month.

But Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran officials were now reviewing the Baghdad talks.

"If we conclude that there is a will from ... [the US] to solve problems and correct past wrongdoing, the negotiations will continue," IRNA quoted Mottaki as saying.

Larijani also said Iran will not suspend uranium enrichment, a key UN demand in the nuclear row with Tehran.

"Suspension is not a solution to Iran's nuclear issue ... Iran cannot accept suspension," Larijani told reporters at a Tehran airport before his departure for Madrid.

"We are ready to hold talks without preconditions, any day, any time, but they [the Europeans] should change their logic and use this opportunity which Iran has created for constructive talks. Previous methods will lead them nowhere," Larijani said.

"We are not against discussing such solutions during talks but the ground should be paved for Iran to continue its nuclear work," he added.

He said Iran was staying within regulations laid down by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The UN watchdog says Iran has to answer questions to clarify its intentions.

On his trip to Spain, Larijani was accompanied by a delegation including his deputy in international affairs, Javad Vaeedi.

Solana has been empowered by the world's major powers - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany as well as the EU - to explore the scope for formal negotiations on a package of economic, technological and political initiatives if Iran first agrees to suspend its enrichment work. - AP, Reuters