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Washington cannot afford to attack Iran, Mottaki says

Iran's foreign minister said the US is not in a position to attack his country because Washington cannot afford another costly war in the region.

Manouchehr Mottaki accused US President George W. Bush's administration of engaging in "psychological war" and raising the option of a military strike every six months over the last two years.

The "US is not in a position to impose another war in our region against their taxpayers," Mottaki said.

Mottaki said Iran warned the US two years ago that it would retaliate if the US administration made a "mad decision" to attack. He refused to say what action Iran would take.

On the final day of the UN General Assembly's ministerial session, he told a news conference his country is trying to avoid any confrontations and wants a peaceful solution to concerns about its nuclear activities.

The Bush administration and others in the West have repeatedly voiced concern over Iran's uranium enrichment program, arguing it is aimed at producing nuclear weapons. Iran rejects the claims, defying UN sanctions while stressing its program is peaceful and agreeing to answer questions from the UN nuclear agency.

"We are not looking for [a] nuclear bomb. We do not need [a] nuclear bomb, and it is not in our military doctrine to have nuclear weapons," Mottaki said.

In a setback for the US, Iran won a reprieve from new UN sanctions over its nuclear program last Friday.

The Bush administration and its European allies ceded to Russian and Chinese demands in the Security Council to give Tehran until next month to address questions from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about its nuclear program.

Mottaki said the foreign ministers of the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany finally adopted "a realistic approach to the issue" at Friday's meeting and supported an initiative by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei that led to the current cooperation with Iran.

Mottaki also defended Iran against allegations that it plays a negative role in Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan.

He said Iran was "part of the solution in our region," not part of the problem.

Asked about concerns from some Arab nations that Iran would fill a void in Iraq if US forces pulled out, Mottaki said this not a "correct understanding" of what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said.
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