Iran says it will target U.S. interests if attacked

By Parisa Hafezi

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Thursday the Islamic Republic would target U.S. interests around the world if it came under attack over its disputed nuclear program.

His comments came as an Iranian naval commander said Revolutionary Guards had test fired missiles that could sink "big warships" in the Gulf, the waterway where a second U.S. aircraft carrier is now heading. The White House said it did not see that as a direct assault on U.S. ships.

Iran and the United States are locked in a war of words over Tehran's nuclear energy program, which Washington says is being channeled into bomb-building, a charge Tehran denies.

"(Iran's) enemies know well that any aggression will lead to a reaction from all sides in the Iranian nation on the aggressors and their interests around the world," state television quoted Khamenei as saying.

Washington said the United States planned to stick to firm diplomacy, not go to war with the Islamic Republic.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates repeated the United States had no plan to attack Iran.

"They make threats like this from time to time. We have no intention of attacking Iran," he told a news conference after meeting his NATO counterparts in the Spanish city of Seville.

Iranian security chief Ali Larijani said on Wednesday he would hold negotiations with European officials at a February 9-11 conference in Germany, the first such contacts since U.N. sanctions were imposed on Iran in December over the nuclear row.

European diplomats said any talks were expected to be exploratory. They noted Iran was still rejecting a mandatory U.N. Security Council resolution demanding it stop enriching uranium to create trust.

Washington is pressing its European allies to take tougher measures against Iran including tightening trade sanctions and has called for tougher U.N. sanctions if Tehran fails to halt nuclear enrichment that could be used to produce weapons.

"We believe that no one will make such an unwise and wrong move (to attack Iran) that would endanger their country and interests," Khamenei said.

"Some say that the U.S. president is not the type who acts based on calculations or thinks about the consequences of his action. But even these people can be brought to their senses."

BUSH DENIES INVASION PLAN

President Bush denies any intent to invade Iran, despite ratcheting up the U.S. military presence in the Gulf region.

"Khamenei from time to time makes these unprovoked statements and we would certainly hope they are not directed at the United States because President Bush has made it clear we have no intention of going to war with Iran," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council.