By Xinhua
Tehran : Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Hassan Firouzabadi has said that his country’s armed forces are ready to teach the United States a lesson if it crosses the line, Iran’s state-run Press TV channel reported on Saturday.
“America’s enmity towards Iran stems from the fact that they know Iran’s revolutionary ideology is against their quest for domination,” Firouzabadi was quoted as saying in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad.
The senior Iranian general reiterated that Iran’s nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and challenged the United States to prove its accusation that Tehran may be using civilian program as a cover to develop atomic weapons.
“We say that our nuclear energy is for peaceful purposes and we have proven it,” Firouzabadi said. “Those who allege that Iran is a threat have to prove their claims.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always endangered the illegitimate accumulation of wealth by superpowers,” he added.
The diplomatic standoff between Iran and the West began almost six years ago over suspicions that Tehran’s nuclear work is a cover for an atomic weapons program.
So far, the UN Security Council has adopted two resolutions, one in December 2006 and the other in March 2007, to force Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities and give up its nuclear programs.