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The Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the United States against any attack on his country saying "The Americans should know that if they launch an assault against Islamic Iran, their interests in every possible part of the world will be harmed". Earlier this week Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran was ready to begin offering nuclear technology to developing countries.

Speaking at a rally in North-West Iran this Thursday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying "Those who want to prevent Iranians from obtaining their right, should know that we do not give a damn about such resolutions."

Iran says that its nuclear program is meant for producing energy and that it has a right to enrich fuel for that purpose. The President of Iran, Mahmud Ahmadinejad stated,"[Iran] won't back down one iota". The US has called on Iran to stop its enrichment work and accuses Iran of trying to build a nuclear bomb. US "is leaving all options on the table" not excluding military strikes with nuclear weapons or with conventional weapons in the eventuality of sanctions being unaffective. Iranian leaders have made strong statements against possible sanctions or military action against their country. The Ayatollah Khamenei said, "The Iranian nation will give a double response to any strike". Tehran has vowed to respond against US targets worldwide in the case of a US led attack against Iran.

The UN Security Council has called on Iran to suspend its enrichment work by Friday and permit additional inspections of its nuclear programme. Iran has rejected the demands. The IAEA is scheduled to report on Iran's compliance of the Security Council resolution on Friday.

A 90 minute meeting between Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the president of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the IAEA provided no breakthrough and no new proposals were made, although Aghazadeh's deputy Mohammed Saidi said the talks were "encouraging."

Speaking Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke in Vienna at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers over Iran's nuclear program. "The United States believes … that in order to be credible the Security Council of course has to act," to reporters. Condoleezza Rice also said that it was "highly unlikely" Tehran would comply with the US's demands and that the UN "cannot have its word and its will simply ignored by a member state". "I look forward to discussing this with my colleagues and to I and others making that case, and I would certainly hope the security council is prepared to take some action."

The German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, "We expect [Iran] to meet international standards and … to allay world suspicions that its civil nuclear operations are being used to develop a possible weapons program."

Russia and China have called for negotiations to resolve the issue with President Vladimir Putin saying that the IAEA must retain the lead in the process.

Iran has nearly four times the land area of Iraq, and over 36 million military troops. Widespread resentment of western influence on past Iranian internal affairs has called some experts to bring into question the possibility of a coalition of NATO or U.S.-led forces against Iran. The likelihood of any preemptive strike against Iran is uncertain. With a large young population increasingly pro-western, there are fears that any strike against Iran could damage any democratic movement as the population as a whole resents pro-Western influence in its internal affairs.

Sources: 

• AFP "Iran threatens global retaliation if US attacks". AFP, Thursday April 27 2006, 04:08

• AFP "Iran defiant ahead of nuclear deadline, US says time to act". AFP, Thursday April 27 2006, 22:35

• AP "Iran's Nuclear Secrets U.N. Deadline Looms". AP, Thursday April 27, 2006 6:16 pm EDT

• "Iran defiant ahead of UN report". BBC World News, Friday April 28, 2006

• "Rice: UN must act on Iran". Al Jazeera, Thursday April 27, 2006

This article was originally written and published at WikiNews.