Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday threatened "severe" retaliation if the United States attacked his country, which is locked in a standoff with the West over its nuclear program.

 

"They realize that if they make such a mistake the retaliation of Iran would be severe and they will repent," Ahmadinejad told a news conference in the United Arab Emirates. He was speaking through an interpreter.

 

"All people know they cannot strike us. Iran is capable of defending itself. It is a strong country," said Ahmadinejad.

 

He said the West could not stop Teheran pursuing its nuclear energy program. "Superpowers cannot prevent us from owning this energy."

 

The Iranian president's comments followed those on Friday by US Vice-President Dick Cheney, who said from the deck of an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf that the US and its allies would prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and dominating the region.

 

The US, which has a strong military presence in the Gulf, accuses Iran of wanting to produce nuclear weapons and has sought tougher UN sanctions against Teheran. Iran says it wants only to generate electricity to allow more oil exports.

 

Using stronger language than on Sunday when he called for US troops to leave the region, Ahmadinejad said Gulf countries should "get rid of" foreign forces, which he blamed for insecurity in the region.

 

"We in the Persian Gulf are faced by difficulties and enemies. Those do not want the region to live in safety... peace can be achieved by getting rid of these forces," he said.

 

"They intervene in the region and make it insecure. They claim that lack of security is the reason for their presence (but) the problem is the intervention of foreign powers."

 

Ahmadinejad was speaking during a trip to the UAE, an ally of Washington, just days after a visit by Cheney.

 

Cheney met officials from the UAE and its larger neighbor Saudi Arabia to discuss issues including Iran, which he has described as a major concern to Sunni Arab states.

 

Dubai-based analyst Mustafa Alani said Teheran was trying to forge regional cooperation around joint interests and to push for an end to foreign troops in the region, a demand that Arab Gulf states would not support.

 

"The disappearance of the Americans in the region will make Iran emerge as a super regional power, this is a demand linked to their (Iranians) strategic ambitions," he said. "But they (Arab states) need foreign support in the region because there is a deep mistrust in the Iranians."

 

The UAE, which with its Gulf Arab neighbors has expressed concern about Teheran's nuclear plans, on Sunday voiced support for a moderate approach to Iran's crisis with the West.

 

Ahmadinejad's visit to the UAE is the first by an Iranian head of state since its creation in 1971.

 

The UAE and Teheran have full diplomatic ties and are major trade partners despite a three-decade dispute over three strategic islands near the entrance to the Gulf, through which a third of the world's sea-borne crude oil supplies pass.

 

Tension between the United States and Iran has raised regional fears of a possible military confrontation that could hit Gulf economies and threaten vital oil exports.

 

Ahmadinejad said Iran had agreed to talk to the United States about Iraq to help the Iraqi people. The White House said on Sunday that US and Iranian officials would meet in the next few weeks in Baghdad about security in Iraq.

 

"They know that their plans have failed in Iraq, their vision is wrong. As long as you are plotting against the Iraqi people, failure will be there day after day," said Ahmadinejad.

 

(China Daily May 15, 2007)