Iran says it will "eliminate" Israel if it attacks

By Parisa Hafezi

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will respond to any military attack from Israel by "eliminating" the Jewish state, a senior army commander said on Tuesday.

Deputy commander-in-chief Mohammad Reza Ashtiani was echoing Iran's late leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who said Israel should be wiped off the map.

Some analysts have speculated that Israel might attack Iran to stop its nuclear activities, which the West fears are a front for weapons development. Iran, which does not recognize Israel, insists it wants nuclear technology only for electricity.

"If Israel wants to take any action against the Islamic Republic, we will eliminate Israel from the scene of the universe," the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Ashtiani as saying. "Our answer to any military attack against Iran will be strong."

The U.S. State Department said the comments showed the international community was right to sanction Iran.

It is "more unbelievable rhetoric out of the leadership of the Iranian government about attacking a fellow member of the United Nations," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. "Any civilized person finds that disturbing."

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak did not respond directly to the remarks but said Israel was pressing ahead with its efforts to counter any Iranian nuclear threat.

Barak told reporters at an air base in central Israel that there remained much to do in "intelligence, in prevention and in formulating diplomatic and practical sanctions."