Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned the United States on Wednesday it would face a 'tragedy' if it attacked the Islamic Republic. 'We advise U.S. officials to be careful not to face another tragedy,' Mohammad Hejazi, a senior commander of the Elite™ Guards, was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. 'Our last word is that if you want to move towards Iran make sure you bring walking sticks and artificial legs because if you came you will not have any legs to return on,' he said.| These guys sure do talk tough ... |
Also on Wednesday, the influential speaker of Iran's parliament hit out at the European Union for imposing new sanctions despite diplomatic efforts to end the dispute. The 27-nation EU on Monday agreed new punitive measures targeting businesses and individuals the West says are linked to Iran's nuclear and ballistic programs, ten days after world powers offered incentives to Tehran in a bid to resolve the row.
'If you want to negotiate with Iran on the proposed package, why are you following the path of confrontation ... ,' speaker Ali Larijani, Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator, said.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana handed Iran an offer on June 14 of economic and other benefits proposed by the United States, Russia, China, Britain, Germany and France to try to convince it to halt uranium enrichment.