Iran warns it would strike back against force

Iran has stepped up its defiance in the wake of unprecedented sanctions imposed by the US, with the commander of the revolutionary guard warning that Tehran would respond to military force with an "even more decisive strike." General Mohammad Ali Jafari's remarks came after the Iranian interior minister, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, vowed any aggressor would meet a "crushing response." The minister acknowledged the probability of a US attack was "very small" but warned it would "lead to America's collapse," according to Iran's state news agency IRNA. The day before, the Bush administration branded the revolutionary guard a "proliferator of weapons of mass destruction" and said its elite Quds division was a terrorist organization, the first time a country's military has been put on the United States' terrorist list. But Gen. Jafari said he did not consider Washington's "words" a threat, Iran's student news agency, ISNA, reported. "The Islamic Republic has the strength and power of its people's faith. This power is joined with experience, knowledge and technology in the realms of defense. The enemy knows it cannot make any mistake, so these words are just exaggeration," he said. "We will reply to any strike with an even more decisive strike," he said Mohammad Ali Hosseini, a spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry, said the sanctions were "doomed to failure" and said the Bush administration's accusation that Iran was arming Shia militants in Iraq was "ridiculous." The US measures target the 125,000-strong Iranian revolutionary guard (IRG), one of the best-resourced parts of the country's military, with its own tanks and planes. It also owns hotels, oil companies and other businesses. China warned in response on Oct. 26, that "sanctions should not be lightly imposed in international relations." "Dialogue and negotiations are the best approach to resolving the Iranian nuclear issue," the foreign ministry said. "To impose new sanctions on Iran at a time when international society and the Iranian authorities are working hard to find a solution to the Iranian nuclear issue can only complicate the issue." President Bush has said repeatedly that a military strike is an option. As part of a multibillion-dollar request for more military spending earlier this week, the Pentagon asked for $88 million to develop the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a huge bunker-busting bomb, for its Stealth bombers. The Bush administration said the bomb was needed "in response to an urgent operational need for theatre commanders."