TEHRAN, Jan 23: Iran said on Sunday it was not taking talk of a US attack seriously, but nevertheless cautioned Washington that military action against it would be a 'major strategic blunder'.
"It's nothing new. Once in a while America starts a psychological war," spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters in response to a hardening of the tone by US officials against Iran.
"The country is strong enough and has the capability to defend itself, so we feel no danger or threat. We do not see it (a US attack) as likely, unless someone wants to make a major strategic blunder," he said.
In separate comments carried by the state news agency Irna, Intelligence Minister Ali Yunessi said any US attack would be 'stupid' and 'America's biggest error'. He also vowed to 'neutralize any plot', saying security preparation had been underway for three years.
Mr Asefi said that the Bush administration had embarked on a policy of 'force and bullying' and was waging a 'cultural and religious war'. Referring to Mr Cheney's warning of a possible Israeli attack, Mr Asefi said that it only served to prove that 'the Zionist lobby is strong in the United States'.
"This will isolate the US more than before," Mr Asefi said, adding that it was now the task of 'international bodies' to keep the US administration in check.
"International bodies have been formed to stop such policies and to bring such countries into compliance with international standards, so we expect that they will pay more attention to this in the second term of the Bush administration," he said.
Mr Asefi said that the talks with the EU were "moving forward in a positive way and as long that continues and that there is no time wasting, they should continue". Concern over US intentions also appears to be building within the EU.
According to Britain's Sunday Times newspaper, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had drawn up a case against a military strike on Iran in a 200-page dossier that makes the case for a 'negotiated solution' to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions.
The paper said the message that the British government wants no part in another war in the Middle East would be reinforced by Prime Minister Tony Blair during his meeting with Mr Bush in Brussels next month and at an Anglo-American summit in Washington after the British general election, expected in May.
It said Mr Straw would also make the case when he meets US secretary of state nominee Condoleezza Rice in London next month. EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner also told the German Bild am Sonntag newspaper that "no one could underestimate the consequences of a military strike - not only on the region but also on relations between the Islamic world and the West". -APP
