Iran speaks for itself

Of three Western newspapers none would give the sources for the Iranian comments, thereby extending Iran the courtesy of allowing them to speak for themselves.


I will correct that by giving the same story from Fars News Agency.
Commander: Iran to Respond to Enemy Aggressions by All Possible Means

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian military commander underlined that Tehran would use every possible means in response to potential enemy aggressions.

Fars News Agency,

21 February, 2012

Speaking to FNA on Tuesday, Deputy Head of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces for Logistic and Industrial Research General Mohammad Hejazi pointed to Iran's latest strategy to embark on posing threats in response to enemy threats, and explained that the strategy means "we will no more wait to see enemy action against us". 

"Given this strategy, we will make use of all our means to protect our national interests and hit a retaliatory blow at them whenever we feel that enemies want to endanger our national interests," Hejazi noted. 

As regards Israeli officials' war rhetoric against Iran, Hejazi said, "We enjoy the ability to show them all types of confrontation in case of a foolish act by the Zionist regime (of Israel)." 

On November 10, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei warned enemies about Iran's tough response to any aggression or even threat, stressing that the country would respond with full force to any attack. 

"Iran is not a nation to sit still and just observe threats from fragile materialist powers which are being eaten by worms from inside," Ayatollah Khamenei told students at a Tehran military college. 

"Anyone who harbors any thought of invading the Islamic Republic of Iran - or even if the thought crosses their mind - should be prepared to receive strong blows and the steel fists of the military, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and the Basij (volunteer) force, backed by the entire Iranian nation," he said. 

"Iran will respond with full force to any aggression or even threats in a way that it will demolish the aggressors from within," he added. 

In relevant remarks earlier in January, a senior Iranian legislator stressed that Iran will use all its capabilities and possibilities to defend the country against foreign threats and the country will use the Strait of Hormoz as a defensive tool and will close the waterway if it comes under threat. 

"Iran will definitely use the defensive potential of the Strait of Hormoz if it is faced with threats," Rapporteur of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Kazzem Jalali told FNA at the time. 

Israel and its close ally the United States accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they have never presented any corroborative document to substantiate their allegations. Both Washington and Tel Aviv possess advanced weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads. 

Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry. 

Both Israel and the US have recently intensified rhetoric against Iran, saying an attack on the Islamic Republic's nuclear site is impending. 

Iran has, in return, warned that it would target Israel and its worldwide interests in case it comes under attack by the Tel Aviv. 

Iran has also warned that it could close the strategic Strait of Hormoz if it became the target of a military attack over its nuclear program. 

Strait of Hormoz, the entrance to the strategic Persian Gulf waterway, is a major oil shipping route. 

and from Fars, the Iranian warning to Europe.

Iranian Oil Minister Issues Ultimatum to EU Members

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi called on the European countries to make a final decision on oil imports from Iran, warning that they will be sanctioned by Tehran otherwise.

Fars News Agency,

21 Febuary, 2012

Iran has recently imposed a ban on oil exports to Britain and France as the main two states which pushed the EU to sanction oil imports from Iran. 

Tehran's Sunday decision to cut oil supplies to Britain and France came after the EU member states decided to impose a ban on Iranian oil, but said that they would put their decision into effect after six months in a bid to find a replacement for Iranian energy supplies. 

On Tuesday, Qassemi underlined that Tehran has the initiative and would take a relevant decision on the future of crude exports to the EU states if they do not guarantee long-term imports from Iran. 

"We make decisions in our own country and we have sanctioned hostile states; if other (European) countries do not specify their decision about long-term oil contracts (with Iran), Tehran will make a decision about them as well," Qassemi told reporters here in Tehran on Tuesday. 

Asked about Iran's next move vis-à-vis the western sanctions against the Islamic Republic, the oil minister reiterated, "There is not problem for selling Iranian oil in the international market and we have good customers and friends in this market." 

After months of debates, the EU member states reached an agreement in their meeting on January 23 to sanction oil imports from Iran and freeze the assets of Iran's Central Bank within the EU. 

Following the move, Tehran summoned the ambassadors of Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Portugal and the Netherlands to protest at the EU's unilateral sanctions against Tehran over its peaceful nuclear program, and warned them that it would soon stop oil exports to these countries if they do not reverse their decision. 

Later in January, the Iranian oil ministry in a statement downplayed the effects of the US and EU's unilateral oil sanctions against Tehran, and said such embargoes would merely harm the European economies and oil consuming countries. 

European sanctions against Iran's oil exports will affect the world economy and hurt the European and non-European countries, the statement said. 

"The hurried decision by the EU states to use oil as a political tool will have a negative impact on the world economy and specially on the recovering European economies which are fighting to overcome the global financial crisis," it added. 

The statement continued that since just 18 percent of oil produced by Iran is exported to European countries, the Islamic Republic can easily replace new markets with the European market. 

Several European refineries have gone bankrupt and shut down business after Tehran announced in January that it would soon cut supplies to those EU member states which would sign into the new sanctions against Iranian oil. 

Also following Iran's move to cut oil sales to British and French firms, the price of Brent crude hit an eight-month high in Asian markets, reaching $123.10 per barrel. 

The price of Brent North Sea crude for April delivery climbed by $3.52, media reports said on Monday.