Iran's supreme leader has warned Israel and the United States.

Join The World Human & Civil Rights Community Iran's supreme leader has warned Israel and the United States that Tehran would respond with "a strong slap and iron first" if either launched a military strike aimed at crippling the country's nuclear programme. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was speaking two days after the United Nations atomic agency released a report that for the first time said Iran was conducting experiments whose sole purpose was the development of nuclear arms. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was speaking two days after the United Nations atomic agency released a report that for the first time said Iran was conducting experiments whose sole purpose was the development of nuclear arms.

 "The enemies, particularly the United States and its pawns and the Zionist regime, should know that the Iranian nation does not seek to invade any country or nation," he said, addressing officers at a military academy in Tehran. "But Iran will strongly respond to any invasion or attack with such power and in a way that the aggressors and invaders will be smashed from the inside. Anybody who takes up the idea of an attack on Iran, should get ready to receive a strong slap and an iron fist.
" His defiant rhetoric indicated that Tehran, which insists it is pursuing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, is set on a confrontation with the West. The supreme leader, who has final say on all state matters in Iran, rations his interventions in international affairs, and appeared to want to send a message that the Iranian establishment was united in its commitment to hit back against any pre-emptive attack.